Tense vs. Terse

Any of the forms of a verb which distinguish when an action or state of being occurs or exists.

Example: ‘The basic tenses in English are present, past, and future.’;

An inflected form of a verb that indicates tense.

Example: ‘English only has a present tense and a past tense; it has no future tense.’;

The property of indicating the point in time at which an action or state of being occurs or exists.

Example: ‘Dyirbal verbs are not inflected for tense.’;

To apply a tense to.

Example: ‘tensing a verb’;

To make or become tense.

Showing signs of stress or strain; not relaxed.

Example: ‘You need to relax, all this overtime and stress is making you tense.’;

Pulled taut, without any slack.

One of the forms which a verb takes by inflection or by adding auxiliary words, so as to indicate the time of the action or event signified; the modification which verbs undergo for the indication of time.

Stretched tightly; strained to stiffness; rigid; not lax; as, a tense fiber.

Example: ‘The temples were sunk, her forehead was tense, and a fatal paleness was upon her.’;

a grammatical category of verbs used to express distinctions of time

stretch or force to the limit;

Example: ‘strain the rope’;

increase the tension on;

Example: ‘tense a rope’;

become tense or tenser;

Example: ‘He tensed up when he saw his opponent enter the room’;

make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious;

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;

Example: ‘tense piano strings’;

(obsolete) Burnished, polished; fine, smooth; neat, spruce.

(by extension) Of speech or style: brief, concise, to the point.

(by extension) Of manner or speech: abruptly or brusquely short; curt.

Appearing as if rubbed or wiped off; rubbed; smooth; polished.

Example: ‘Many stones, . . . although terse and smooth, have not this power attractive.’;

Refined; accomplished; - said of persons.

Elegantly concise; free of superfluous words; polished to smoothness; as, terse language; a terse style.

Example: ‘Terse, luminous, and dignified eloquence.’; ‘A poet, too, was there, whose verseWas tender, musical, and terse.’; ‘"In eight terse lines has Phædrus told(So frugal were the bards of old)A tale of goats; and closed with grace,Plan, moral, all, in that short space."’;

brief and to the point; effectively cut short;

Example: ‘a crisp retort’; ‘a response so curt as to be almost rude’; ‘the laconic reply; `yes'’; ‘short and terse and easy to understand’;

sparing in the use of words; abrupt

Example: ‘a terse statement’;