Crossword clues for tenseness
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tense \Tense\, a. [L. tensus, p. p. of tendere to stretch. See Tend to move, and cf. Toise.] Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as, a tense fiber.
The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a
fatal paleness was upon her.
--Goldsmith.
[1913 Webster] -- Tense"ly, adv. -- Tense"ness, n.
Wiktionary
n. 1 The characteristic of being tense. 2 (context phonetics English) A particular vowel or consonant quality that is phonemically contrastive in many languages, including English.
WordNet
n. the physical condition of being stretched or strained; "it places great tension on the leg muscles"; "he could feel the tenseness of her body" [syn: tension, tensity, tautness]
(psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor" [syn: tension, stress]
Wikipedia
In phonology, tenseness or tensing is the pronunciation of a vowel with narrower mouth width (often, with the tongue being raised) and usually with less centralization and longer duration compared with another vowel, thus causing a phonemic contrast between the two vowels. Contrast between vowels on the basis of tenseness is common in many languages, including English; for example, in most English dialects, (as in the word beet) is the tense counterpart to the lax (as in bit), and (as in kook) is the tense counterpart to the lax (as in cook). The opposite quality of tenseness, in which a vowel is produced as relatively more widened (often lowered), centralized, and shortened is called laxness or laxing.
Unlike most distinctive features, the feature [tense] can be interpreted only relatively, often with a perception of greater tension or pressure in the mouth, which, in a language like English, contrasts between two corresponding vowel types: a tense vowel and a lax vowel. An example in Vietnamese is the letters ă and â representing lax vowels, and the letters a and ơ representing the corresponding tense vowels. Some languages like Spanish are often considered as having only tense vowels, but since the quality of tenseness is not a phonemic feature in this language, it cannot be applied to describe its vowels in any meaningful way. The term has also occasionally been used to describe contrasts in consonants.
Usage examples of "tenseness".
Their slow and peaceful movements lulled him, easing the pain in his eyes, the tenseness in his stomach.
He felt the tenseness return like bands of iron about his chest and brow, felt the tiredness seep back into his bones.
There was a tenseness to each small movement of his that revealed how deeply he felt about all this.
He looked straight at the narrow blue eyes, and in the tenseness of his look there was perhaps a conscious defiance.
After a while she became aware of the tenseness of the slender, blue-eyed girl beside her.
Baron Troylin and his daughter ate nervously, with a forced lightheartedness that belied an underlying tenseness.
The expression on his face told Margie of controlled worry, concern deeper than the usual preperformance tenseness.
He put his hand on her shoulder, rubbing out the tenseness he felt in the bunched muscles of her neck.
Now he knew a queer apprehension, the same quiver of nerves and tenseness of muscles that a swordman knows before the command to charge is given at a spear-festing.
When she tries to lie there is a fear involved and this fear, in subtle ways, in subtle drawings back, in tensenesses, is manifested in her beautiful body, proclaiming it that of a liar.