tense

cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious

“he got a phone call from his lawyer that tensed him up”

become stretched or tense or taut

“the bodybuilder's neck muscles tensed”

become tense, nervous, or uneasy

“He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room”

a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time

increase the tension on

“alternately relax and tense your calf muscle”

in or of a state of physical or nervous tension

pronounced with relatively tense tongue muscles (e.g., the vowel sound in `beat')

taut or rigid; stretched tight

“tense piano strings”