tension
part of speech
noun (tension, tensions — mostly uncountable)
meaning for a pupil
1) Tension is a feeling of worry or nervousness, when people are stressed or not getting on. tree →
2) In science, tension is the pulling force in a rope, string or wire when it is stretched tight. tree →
3) Tension is tightness, like in a muscle. tree →
4) In stories, tension is the exciting feeling that something is about to happen. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science lessons on forces, a rope pulling an object has tension; surface tension lets insects stand on water. In English lessons writers build tension to make readers want to read on. In everyday life there can be tension between friends or in a family. Phrases: build tension, surface tension, tension in the air.
examples
- There was tension in the room before the results were read out. tree →
- The tension in the rope held the boat. tree →
- Surface tension lets a pond skater walk on water. tree →
- The writer builds tension with short sentences. tree →
- Stretching helps to ease tension in your neck. tree →
- There was some tension between the two teams. tree →
- Tighten the string to increase the tension. tree →
note
Mostly uncountable; «tensions» is used for disagreements between groups. Related: tense (adjective), tensely. In physics tension is a force, measured in newtons like other forces.
In the corpora
- Soap weakens the "skin" of water, its surface tension.
- Very short sentences or paragraphs can build tension or make a moment stand out.
- Tension builds when the writer slows the action and holds back information.
- Tension makes the reader worry about what will happen next; a twist is a surprise that changes the meaning of the story.
- «Tensions» means a situation is tight and worried, like a rubber band pulled hard but not snapped.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tension» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.