 |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Suspense \Sus*pense"\, adjective [F. suspens, L. suspensus, p. p. of suspendere. See {Suspend}.]
1. Held or lifted up; held or prevented from proceeding. [Obs.]
[The great light of day] suspense in heaven. --Milton.
2. Expressing, or proceeding from, suspense or doubt. [Obs.] ''Expectation held his look suspense.'' --Milton.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Suspense \Sus*pense"\, noun [From F. suspens, adjective See {Suspense}, a.]
1. The state of being suspended; specifically, a state of uncertainty and expectation, with anxiety or apprehension; indetermination; indecision; as, the suspense of a person waiting for the verdict of a jury.
Ten days the prophet in suspense remained. --Denham.
Upon the ticklish balance of suspense. --Cowper.
2. Cessation for a time; stop; pause.
A cool suspense from pleasure and from pain. --Pope.
3. [Cf. F. suspense.] (Law) A temporary cessation of one's right; suspension, as when the rent or other profits of land cease by unity of possession of land and rent.
{Suspense account} (Bookkeeping), an account in which receipts or disbursements are temporarily entered until their proper position in the books is determined.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
suspense
noun
1: apprehension about what is going to happen
2: an uncertain cognitive state; "the matter remained in suspense for several years"
3: excited anticipation of an approaching climax; "the play kept the audience in suspense"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
124 Moby Thesaurus words for "suspense": abeyance, agitation, all-overs, angst, anticipation, anxiety, anxiety hysteria, anxiety neurosis, anxious bench, anxious concern, anxious seat, anxiousness, apathy, apprehension, apprehensiveness, cankerworm of care, capriciousness, care, catalepsy, catatonia, chance, chanciness, changeableness, cliff-hanging, concern, concernment, danglement, dangling, deadliness, deathliness, dependence, dependency, disquiet, disquietude, distress, disturbance, dormancy, doubt, dread, entropy, erraticism, erraticness, excitement, expectancy, expectant waiting, expectation, fear, fickleness, foreboding, forebodingness, hanging, hesitancy, hesitation, incalculability, incertitude, indecision, indecisiveness, indefiniteness, indemonstrability, indeterminacy, indetermination, indeterminism, indifference, indolence, inertia, inertness, inquietude, insecurity, irresolution, languor, latency, lotus-eating, luck, malaise, misgiving, moratorium, nervous strain, nervous tension, nervousness, overanxiety, passiveness, passivity, pendency, pendulosity, pendulousness, pensileness, pensility, perturbation, pessimism, pins and needles, pucker, randomness, solicitude, stagnancy, stagnation, stasis, stew, strain, suspensefulness, suspension, tension, torpor, trouble, unaccountability, uncertainness, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, undecidedness, undeterminedness, uneasiness, unforeseeableness, unpredictability, unprovability, unquietness, unsureness, unverifiability, upset, vacillation, vegetation, vexation, vis inertiae, waiting, whimsicality, zeal
 |
Definitions retrieved from local copies of the freely distributed DICT client/server software and databases. Click here for database copyright information. - KM |