Tension Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of TENSION

1

[noncount]

a

:

a feeling of nervousness that makes you unable to relax

• You can see she is just filled with tension about her job.

b

:

a feeling of nervousness, excitement, or fear that is created in a movie, book, etc.

• The dramatic tension was very satisfying.
• The author resolves the tension too soon.

2

:

a state in which people, groups, countries, etc., disagree with and feel anger toward each other

[count]

• Political tensions in the region make it unstable.

[noncount]

• Do you sense the tension between those two?
• There was a lot of tension at the meeting.
• The book describes the _tension_-filled days before the war.

3

:

a difficult situation caused by the opposite needs or effects of two different ideas, desires, etc.

[count]

• He felt a tension between duty and love.

[noncount]

• There will always be some tension between the desire to reduce risk and the desire to make as much money as possible.

4

[noncount]

:

the degree to which something is stretched

:

the amount that something is stretched

• I don't like the tension on this tennis racket.
• muscle tension [=_tightness_]
• She has a lot of tension in her shoulders.