ten·sion 
/ˈtɛnʃən/ noun
plural ten·sions /ˈtɛnʃən/ noun 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.
▪ 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.
▪ I don't like the tension on this tennis racket. ▪ muscle tension [=tightness] ▪ She has a lot of tension in her shoulders.
— see also high-tension, surface tension
