tense
Example Sentences
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Reddington also grew tense as he repeatedly questioned another prosecution expert, psychiatrist Avram Mack, about whether postpartum psychosis is a diagnosis.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
"Dolly is like a mother to everyone who lives here," said 24-year-old local Jonah La Grand, clad in a Dolly Parton t-shirt and speaking of her in the present tense.
From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026
“The U.S. has no talks planned with Iran, while the Strait of Hormuz situation remains tense, with limited traffic and ongoing disagreement around reopening conditions,” analysts at Sucden Financial said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026
The three downstream states of California, Arizona and Nevada have deadlocked in negotiations in a tense dispute with the upstream states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Ivan and Håkon were both staring at the Nightingale, equally tense.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
“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
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
Viramontes’ prose jumps between tenses, perspectives and styles so much you find yourself reading each story multiple times — to understand it but also to sit in awe of her gorgeous dexterity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2023
Every time someone new jumps onto his car, he tenses.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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
As time ticks on, the mood grows tenser.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2022
Even as political relations have grown tenser, business ties have flourished.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
“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
Norway's prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre describes this as the tensest security situation the country has faced in decades.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 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 genuine tenderness between them, undergirding even their tensest interactions, is ultimately what makes their co-starring turns so memorable.
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2022
Now, as Angola approaches its closest and tensest election since multi-party democracy arrived in 1992, the "library" has also become a spot where young Angolans debate their country's future -- and lament its many failures.
From Reuters ● Aug. 23, 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
Even the way my neck tensed up — I couldn’t, move my neck after some of these days because you’re straining.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 1, 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
Anya tensed up and slid the potion back into her pocket.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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
Though my back initially kept tensing at the sharper touch, it soon relaxed into the sensation, as if my body were recalling those childhood back scratches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 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
I freeze, every muscle in my body tensing.
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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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