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Surprise vs Tension - What's the difference?

surprise | tension |

As nouns the difference between surprise and tension

is that surprise is something not expected while tension is tension.

As a verb surprise

is to cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted.

As an adjective surprise

is unexpected.

surprise

English

Alternative forms

* (l) (qualifier)

Noun

(en noun)
  • Something not expected.
  • * 2013 , Daniel Taylor, Rickie Lambert’s debut goal gives England victory over Scotland'' (in ''The Guardian , 14 August 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/14/england-scotland-international-friendly]
    • They had begun brightly but the opening goal was such a blow to their confidence it almost came as a surprise when Walcott, running through the inside-right channel, beat the offside trap and, checking back on to his left foot, turned a low shot beyond Allan McGregor in the Scotland goal.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=September 7, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC Sport
    • , title= Moldova 0-5 England , passage=England were graphically illustrating the huge gulf in class between the sides and it was no surprise when Lampard added the second just before the half hour. Steven Gerrard found his Liverpool team-mate Glen Johnson and Lampard arrived in the area with perfect timing to glide a header beyond Namasco.}}
  • (attributive) Unexpected.
  • The feeling that something unexpected has happened.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=20 citation , passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen.
  • (obsolete) A dish covered with a crust of raised pastry, but with no other contents.
    • (King)

    Synonyms

    * unexpected * (feeling) astonishment

    Derived terms

    * take by surprise

    Verb

    (surpris)
  • To cause (someone) to feel unusually alarmed or delighted.
    • It surprises me that I owe twice as much as I thought I did.
  • To do something to (a person) that they are not expecting, as a surprise.
    • He doesn’t know that I’m in the country – I thought I’d turn up at his house and surprise him.
  • To undergo or witness something unexpected.
    • He doesn’t surprise easily.
  • To cause surprise.
  • To attack unexpectedly.
  • To take unawares.

    • Adjective

    (-)
  • Unexpected.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
    • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn’t I??? Why didn’t I telephone??? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I’d no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape. …”}} 1000 English basic words ----

    tension

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Condition of being held in a state between two or more forces, which are acting in opposition to each other
  • Psychological state of being tense.
  • (physics, engineering) State of an elastic object which is stretched in a way which increases its length.
  • (physics, engineering) Force transmitted through a rope, string, cable, or similar object (used with prepositions on'', ''in'', or ''of , e.g., "The tension in the cable is 1000 N", to convey that the same magnitude of force applies to objects attached to both ends).
  • (physics, engineering) Voltage. Usually only the terms low tension, high tension, and extra-high tension, and the abbreviations LT, HT, and EHT are used. They are not precisely defined; LT is normally a few volts, HT a few hundreds of volts, and EHT thousands of volts.

    • Related terms

    * tensional * tensile

    Verb

  • To place an object in tension, to pull or place strain on.
    • We tensioned the cable until it snapped.

    Anagrams

    * ----