1433
terminology
tesion /'tenfan/ n 1 [U] (a feeling of) nervous anxiety,
worry, or pressure: The doctor said I was suffering from
nervous tension. | Tension mounted (=increased) as we
waited for the exam results to be published. 2 [C usually pl.;U]
an anxious, untrusting, and perhaps dangerous condition in
the relationship between people, countries etc: the racial
tensions of a big American city | The signing of this agree-
ment will help to reduce/defuse international tension. | The
border dispute has been a continuing source of tension. 3 [U]
the degree of tightness or stiffness of a wire, rope, the body
etc: When he tightened the guitar string, it snapped under the
tension. | muscle tension 4 [U] the amount of a force stretch-
ing something: This wire will take 50 pounds tension before
breaking. 5 [U] tech electric power: 'Danger. High tension
wires. Keep clear" (notice)
1066/ten siksti 'siks the year 1066, the year of the Battle
of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of Britain. It is one of
the few dates in British history which most British people
know.
1066 And All That /ten siksti 'siks ænd ɔǝl æǝt/ (1930)
a humorous book about British history written by R. I.
Yeatman and W. C. Sellar. The writers claim that there are
only two dates in British history which all British people
remember: the arrival of Julius Caesar in Britain in 55BC,
and the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
tent /tent/n 1 a movable shelter made especially of cloth or
plastic material supported by a structure of poles and ropes,
used especially by campers: a row of tents | a tent peg 2 a
similar covered frame used for giving support or protection,
especially in the treatment of illness: Put a tent over his legs
to stop them being rubbed by the sheets. ➡ see also OXYGEN
TENT
ten-ta-cle /'tentəkǝl n a long snakylike boneless jointless
limb on certain creatures, used for moving, feeling, seizing,
touching etc ➡ see picture at OCTOPUS
ten-tative /'tentǝtrv/ adj 1 not certain or fully developed;
not firm or complete: We've made tentative plans for a
holiday but haven't decided anything certain yet. | a tentative
arrangement/agreement 2 done without confidence; HESI-
TANT: a tentative smile -ly adv -ness n [U] the tentatve-
ness of his reply
ten-ter-hooks /'tentǝhuks||-ǝr-/ non tenterhooks in a
worried, anxious, or nervous state of mind; in a state of
anxious expectation
tenth /tenǝ/determiner, n, pron, adv 10th ➡ see TABLE 1
ten-u-ous /'tenuǝs/adj 1 (of something non-physical) hav-
ing little meaning or strength; slight; INSIGNIFICANT: The
connection between the film and the book it's based on is fairly
tenuous. | tenuous evidence 2 fml or lit very thin: The spider
hung from a tenuous silky thread. —ly adv —ness n [U]
ten-ure /'tenjǝ, juǝr/ [U] fml 1 the act, right, or period of
holding land or a job: He remained popular throughout his
tenure of the office of president. | One of the conditions of
tenure is that you must keep the land under cultva-
tion. 2 especially AmE the right to stay in a job, especially as a
university teacher, without needing to have a new contract
of employment, usually given after a fixed number of years:
Has she got tenure? | a tenure-tracked position (=one which
will lead to tenure) at Harvard
Ten-zing, Nor-gay /'tensin, 'nɔ:ger||'nɔ:r-/ (1914-86) a
Nepalese SHERPA (=a mountain climber employed to guide
other climbers) who is often called Sherpa Tenzing. He and
Sir Edmund HILLARY were the first people to reach the top of
Mount EVEREST, in 1953.
te-pee, teepee, tipi /'ti:pi:/" a round tent of the type used
by some Native Americans, especially those living on the
PLAINS
tep-id /'tepid/ ady (especially of liquid) only slightly warm;
LUKEWARM: tepid water | (fig) The critics' reaction to the new
film was rather tepid. (=showed only slight approval) -ly
adv -ness or -ity /ts'pidǝti/ fl n [U]
tequi-la /t'ki:lǝ/ [U] a strong alcoholic drink made in
Mexico
tequila sunrise n a COCKTAIL made from tequila, orange
juice, and GRENADINE
terabyte /'terǝbart/ written abbrev. TB or Tb a unit for
measuring computer information, equal to 1,024 GIGABYTES,
and used less exactly to mean one TRILLION BYTES
ter-cen-te-na-ry /tǝ:sen'tiner||,tǝ:rsen'teneri,
tǝ:rsenteneri/ also ter-cen-ten-ni-al /tǝ:rsen'tenial
/tǝ:r-/ the day or year exactly 300 years after a paticular
event
Teresa, Mother ➡ see MOTHER TERESA
Ter-fel, Bryn /'t3:vǝł'ts:r-, brin (1965-) a British OPERA
singer from Wales who has worked with many famous opera
companies and who is known especially for singing in
operas by Mozart ➡ see colour photo on page A30
Ter-kel, Studs /'t3:kǝł't3:r-, stǝdz/ (1912-) a US writer and
radio broadcaster whose books, including Working (1974),
The Good War (1984), and Race (1993), are based on the
experiences and memories of ordinary American people
term¹ /t3:m|t3:rm/n 1 a fixed or limited period of time:
The President is elected for a four-year term (of office). | her
second term as Prime Minister | a term of imprisonment |
When does his term expire? 2 a) BrE any of three periods of
time into which the teaching year is divided at schools,
universities etc b) also semester AmE — any of two periods
of time into which this teaching year is divided in the US:
the summer term | Are there any exams at the end of term/any
end-of-term exams? ➡ compare SEMESTER; see also HALF
TERM, MIDTERM 3 a period of time during which a court,
parliament etc, meets 4 [C usually sing.] tech the end of a
period of time during which something lasts: Since our
contract is getting near its term we must negotiate a new one. |
The doctor said my wife was too near her term (=the day on
which she is to give birth to a child) to travel by air. 5 [often
pl.] a word or expression that has a particular meaning or is
used in a particular activity, job, profession etc: a medical
term | a term used in the building trade | The word 'moron' is
a term of abuse. (=a word used when speaking nastily or
unkindly to someone) | She spoke in glowing terms (=every
approvingly) about your work. | I told him in no uncertain
terms (=in plain and direct language) to mind his own
business. 6 tech each of the various parts in an expression in
MATHEMATICS 7 in the long/medium/short term over a
long/middle-sized/short period of time: In the short term we
expect to lose money on this book, but in the long term we hope
to make large profits. | the government's medium-term finan-
cial strategy ➡ see also TERMS, LONG-TERM, SHORT-TERM
term v [T+obj (+as)+n/adj] to name, call, or describe; DESIGNATE:
The chairman of this parliament is termed 'the Speaker'. | a
pay offer which the union termed as absurd
ter-ma-gant /'t3:megant'ts:r-/ n, adj [A] especially lut (a
woman who is) noisy and quarrelsome
ter-minal /'t3:min||'t3:r-/ adj 1 of or being an illness
that will cause death: terminal cancer | the terminal wards of
a hospital 2 especially tech of or at the end or limit of
something —ly adv: terminally ill
terminal' n 1 a) a place or set of buildings for the use of
passengers joining or leaving a bus, ship etc, at the begin-
ning or end of its journey: the Ocean Terminal at Southamp-
ton b) an AIR TERMINAL ➡ compare TERMINUS 2 a point at
which connections can be made to an electic system (CIR-
CUIT) 3 an apparatus, usually consisting of a KEYBOARD and a
SCREEN, by which a user can give instructions to and get
information from a computer, especially a large computer to
which many users are connected
ter-mi-nate /t3:mneit'ts:r-/ v [+adv/prep;T] fml to come or
bring to an end: The next train terminates here. (=it goes no
further) | Your contract has been terminated. | to terminate a
pregnancy
ter-mi-na-tion /t3:mnerfn|tz:r-/ n 1 [C;U(of)] (an) act
of terminating 2 [C] BrE euph or tech for ABORTION 3 [C) tech
the last part or letter of a word
Ter-min-a-tor, The (1984) a violent
US film, in which Arnold SCHWARZENEGGER appears as an
ANDROID (=a machine that looks exactly like a person) who is
sent back from the future to kill a woman before she can
give birth to a child who will become a great leader in the
future. In a second film, Terminator II (1991), Schwarzeneg-
ger appears as another android, but this time he is a good
character who wants to help the humans.
ter-mi-nol-o-gy /