1. present participle of tense; making or becoming tight, stiff, or strained

1. the act or process of making something tense or tight

Examples

• She could feel her muscles tensing before the race.
• The rope was tensing under the heavy weight.
• His jaw was tensing as he tried to control his anger.
• The tensing of her shoulders showed her stress.
• The athlete focused on tensing and relaxing different muscle groups.
• You could see him tensing up during the difficult conversation.
• The sudden tensing of the cable indicated it might snap.