Definition of tension Tension

/tɛˈnʃʌn/ - [tenshun] - ten•sion

We found 21 definitions of tension from 7 different sources.

What does tension mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: tensions
tension - the physical condition of being stretched or strained; "it places great tension on the leg muscles"; "he could feel the tenseness of her body"
		tensity, tenseness, tautness
		status, condition the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society; "he had the status of a minor"; "the novel attained the status of a classic"; "atheists do not enjoy a favorable position in American life"
tension - (psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor"
		tenseness, stress
		mental strain, nervous strain, strain an intense or violent exertion
		psychological science, psychology the science of mental life
		yips nervous tension that causes an athlete to fail (especially causes golfers to miss short putts); "to avoid the yips he changed his style of putting"
tension - (physics) a stress that produces an elongation of an elastic physical body; "the direction of maximum tension moves asymptotically toward the direction of the shear"
		stress the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"
		natural philosophy, physics the science of matter and energy and their interactions; "his favorite subject was physics"
tension - the action of stretching something tight; "tension holds the belt in the pulleys"
		stretching act of expanding by lengthening or widening
tension - a balance between and interplay of opposing elements or tendencies (especially in art or literature); "there is a tension created between narrative time and movie time"; "there is a tension between these approaches to understanding history"
		balance a scale for weighing; depends on pull of gravity
		artistic creation, artistic production, art the creation of beautiful or significant things; "art does not need to be innovative to be good"; "I was never any good at art"; "he said that architecture is the art of wasting space beautifully"
tension - feelings of hostility that are not manifest; "he could sense her latent hostility to him"; "the diplomats' first concern was to reduce international tensions"
		latent hostility
		enmity, antagonism, hostility (biochemistry) interference in or inhibition of the physiological action of a chemical substance by another having a similar structure

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Wiktionary

tension (Noun)
Psychological state of being tense.
tension (Noun)
Condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other.
tension (Noun)
Voltage. Usually only the terms low tension, high tension, and extra-high tension, and the abbreviations LT, HT, and EHT are used. They are not precisely defined; LT is normally a few volts, HT a few hundreds of volts, and EHT thousands of volts.
tension (Verb)
To place an object in tension, to pull or place strain on.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

tension (a.)
The act of stretching or straining; the state of being stretched or strained to stiffness; the state of being bent strained; as, the tension of the muscles, tension of the larynx.
tension (a.)
Fig.: Extreme strain of mind or excitement of feeling; intense effort.
tension (a.)
The degree of stretching to which a wire, cord, piece of timber, or the like, is strained by drawing it in the direction of its length; strain.
tension (a.)
The force by which a part is pulled when forming part of any system in equilibrium or in motion; as, the tension of a srting supporting a weight equals that weight.
tension (a.)
A device for checking the delivery of the thread in a sewing machine, so as to give the stitch the required degree of tightness.
tension (a.)
Expansive force; the force with which the particles of a body, as a gas, tend to recede from each other and occupy a larger space; elastic force; elasticity; as, the tension of vapor; the tension of air.
tension (a.)
The quality in consequence of which an electric charge tends to discharge itself, as into the air by a spark, or to pass from a body of greater to one of less electrical potential. It varies as the quantity of electricity upon a given area.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

tension
Difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension.

Electrical DictionaryThe Standard Electrical Dictionary 💡

tension
Electro-motive force or potential difference in a current system is often thus termed. It is to be distinguished from intensity or current strength, which word it too greatly resembles.

Wikipedia

mechanics
Tension is a reaction force applied by a stretched string (rope or a similar object) on the objects which stretch it. The direction of the force of tension is parallel to the string, towards the string.

Tension exists also inside the string itself: if the string is made up of two parts, tension is the force which the two parts of the string apply on each other. The amount of tension in the string determines whether it will break, as well as its vibrational properties, which are used in musical instruments.