not anticipated; "unanticipated and disconcerting lines of development"- H.W.Glidden; "unforeseen circumstances"; "a virtue unlooked-for in people so full of energy"; "like a bolt out of the blue"
causing surprise or wonder or amazement; "the report shows a surprising lack of hard factual data"; "leaped up with surprising agility"; "she earned a surprising amount of money"
the action of stretching something tight; "tension holds the belt in the pulleys"
(physics) a stress that produces an elongation of an elastic physical body; "the direction of maximum tension moves asymptotically toward the direction of the shear"
a balance between and interplay of opposing elements or tendencies (especially in art or literature); "there is a tension created between narrative time and movie time"; "there is a tension between these approaches to understanding history"
(psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor"
the physical condition of being stretched or strained; "it places great tension on the leg muscles"; "he could feel the tenseness of her body"
(physiology) metabolic equilibrium actively maintained by several complex biological mechanisms that operate via the autonomic nervous system to offset disrupting changes
the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"
(physics) force that produces strain on a physical body; "the intensity of stress is expressed in units of force divided by units of area"
difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension; "she endured the stresses and strains of life"; "he presided over the economy during the period of the greatest stress and danger"- R.J.Samuelson
special emphasis attached to something; "the stress was more on accuracy than on speed"
put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"
to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"