tense
Example Sentences
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The cataloged fragments were held on the concrete floor of Hangar 17 at John F. Kennedy Airport, and the authors describe the tense atmosphere inside the cavernous space.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
It was “a tense, miserable time,” she said.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
Under pressure, people may become more cautious in an effort to avoid losses, whether they are making an investment, handling a tense workplace situation, or choosing a meal quickly.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026
After a few more tense moments of silence, he mumbled under his breath and left.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
There were a few tense minutes and a few nervous glances.
From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown
“When I’m frustrated and my eyes roll and my voice tenses, they feel that,” he said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
Mr. Drout analyzes with clarity and humor Tolkien’s fascination with Finnish grammar, the distinctive ways he uses pronouns and the particular verb tenses he favors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Simon Cheng still visibly tenses when he describes his detention in China.
From New York Times ● May 27, 2024
As the ants mount their attack, the juvenile beetle tenses its muscles and expels a drop of bright red fluid.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 12, 2024
Immediately my body tenses, but she puts two fingers to her lips—the most binding of Tribal vows.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
“As the night progressed, it got tenser and tenser. There were just more cops on all sides. It felt like we were being slowly pushed in and crushed,” said Ocean Muir, a sophomore.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
But while the players and management are visibly tenser than at their Le Touquet training base, the messaging remains consistent.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2023
And this reaction evokes the challenge CNN faces as its news team barrels into a national election cycle that's already looking tenser and more fraught than 2020's or 2022's nailbiters.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2023
Things got tenser when Hyundai and LG Energy Solution announced a $4.3 billion electric battery plant in May at Hyundai’s new complex.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2023
“Four, three, two . “Oppenheimer, on whom had rested a very heavy burden, grew tenser as the last seconds ticked off,” remembered Farrell.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
But combine that with spectacular writing, which delivered one of the tensest season finales in recent memory, and I’m anxious to find out what’s next.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
The tensest moment of the debate was when Bolsonaro called da Silva to stand next to him as he answered a question.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 29, 2022
The meeting had the Cold War atmospherics of the angry debates that once punctuated Security Council sessions during the tensest faceoffs between the United States and Soviet Union.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2022
The comments were among the most conciliatory that Moscow has made on the Ukraine crisis, which has escalated into one of the tensest East-West standoffs since the Cold War ended three decades ago.
From Reuters ● Jan. 28, 2022
He speaks in the tensest voice I’ve ever heard him use.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
When her sister, Rowe, walked in that morning, she found Waldorf with her eyes wide and glazed over, her jaw tensed.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
In a flash, she springs into action, her muscles tensed and claws unsheathed.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
Most major office buildings, include Elephant’s, had an earthquake protocol; upon detecting a quake, microfibers in the walls tensed up to enforce the structure of the building.
From Slate ● Jan. 27, 2024
When an unfamiliar man wearing a trench coat and carrying a backpack entered church one Sunday, Hollan tensed up, so alarmed by what the visitor might do that he and Kate had to leave.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 31, 2023
Still, every time Mia looked at her, she tensed.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
My muscles were tensing at the torrent of oversharing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
After a difficult doctor’s appointment with her mother recently, Thompson says she felt her whole body tensing up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
"Sometimes, I catch myself tensing up," Justin said.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2023
“I’m tensing up. There’s a lot of stuff I can do to protect myself.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2023
Foot by foot, we pushed and pulled the wagon with Dragonwings up the hill, its wings dipping and bobbing as if it were tensing itself.
From "Dragonwings" by Laurence Yep
Vocabulary lists containing tense
A Long Walk to Water
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TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
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Language and Grammar - Introductory
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