You searched for: “tense
tense
1. Stretched tight; strained; taut.
2. Undergoing or showing mental stress or displaying nervous strain; anxious; apprehensive; jittery.
tense, tense, tents, tens, TENS
tense (TENS) (adjective)
A condition or state of mental or nervous tension: "We were very tense because it seemed that we would never get this project completed."
tense (TENS) (noun)
Any one of the inflected forms in the conjugation of a verb that indicates the time; such as, present, past, or future; as well as, the continuance or completion of the action or situation: "Now we are in the present tense; but if we talk about yesterday, we are referring to the past tense."
tents (TENS) (noun)
Portable shelters often made of canvas water-proof material, stretched over a supporting framework of poles with ropes and pegs: "We had to set up our tents before it got dark."
tens (TENZ) (noun)
In groups of ten or ten to a section or unit: "Do you have any money in fives and tens to exchange for this fifty dollar bill?"
TENS (TENZ) (noun)
A technique that uses electrodes on the skin through which intermittent electrical stimulation is delivered for the purpose of managing pain: "The doctor explained the TENS procedure when she was discussing pain management as the result of her car accident"

When this group of Boy Scouts go camping, they usually stay in what could be interpreted as nervous little outdoor cloth shelters which they call tense tents set up in groups of tens.

(Greek > Latin: to move in a certain direction; to stretch, to hold out; tension; as well as tendon, sinew)