Definition of "tension" []

• The act or process of stretching something tight. (noun)
• The condition of so being stretched; tautness. (noun)
• A force tending to stretch or elongate something. (noun)
• A measure of such a force: a tension on the cable of 50 pounds. (noun)
• Mental, emotional, or nervous strain: working under great tension to make a deadline. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "•tension or compression shall not exceed the extreme fibre stress given above for rolled beams and shapes, or in case of built members the above tension and compression stresses -"
• "The main tension is between communist Russia and capitalist America."
• "We do find out, but the ending seems to diffuse the tension is a less than satisfactory way."