Definition of "tence" [tence]

• An obsolete spelling of tense. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "That last sen­tence is the biggest downer I’ve read in a long, long time."
• "But I had just discovered them and I knew that I would never catch up with the others even if I tried — so I sipped my way through that month on crisp glasses of chilled gin and soothed my social awkwardness with the refreshing bite of the liquid entering my lukewarm exis tence, only to soften into the temperature of one who was destined to only watch and never dance inside the circle."
• "Not quite the professional compe-244 tence and detachment of yourself, my dear Commander, but quiet, sincere, some natural grief bravely under control."