The noun tension has 6 senses (first 5 from tagged texts)
1. (381) latent hostility, tension -- (feelings of hostility that are not manifest; "he could sense her latent hostility to him"; "the diplomats' first concern was to reduce international tensions")
2. (112) tension, tenseness, stress -- ((psychology) a state of mental or emotional strain or suspense; "he suffered from fatigue and emotional tension"; "stress is a vasoconstrictor")
3. (35) tension, tensity, tenseness, tautness -- (the physical condition of being stretched or strained; "it places great tension on the leg muscles"; "he could feel the tenseness of her body")
4. (29) tension -- (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")
5. (13) tension -- ((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")
6. tension -- (the action of stretching something tight; "tension holds the belt in the pulleys")