grammatical category, syntactic category - (grammar) a category of words having the same grammatical properties

present tense, present - a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking

aorist - a verb tense in some languages (classical Greek and Sanskrit) expressing action (especially past action) without indicating its completion or continuation

past tense, past - a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the past

future tense, future - a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future

continuous tense, imperfect, imperfect tense, progressive, progressive tense - a tense of verbs used in describing action that is on-going

perfect, perfect tense, perfective, perfective tense - a tense of verbs used in describing action that has been completed (sometimes regarded as perfective aspect)

tighten - become tight or tighter; "The rope tightened"

alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue"

change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election"

affect - act physically on; have an effect upon

crick - twist the head into a strained position

stretch, extend - extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body; "Stretch your legs!"; "Extend your right arm above your head"

agitated - troubled emotionally and usually deeply; "agitated parents"

uneasy - lacking a sense of security or affording no ease or reassurance; "farmers were uneasy until rain finally came"; "uneasy about his health"; "gave an uneasy laugh"; "uneasy lies the head that wears the crown"; "an uneasy coalition government"; "an uneasy calm"; "an uneasy silence fell on the group"

phonetics - the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis

tight - closely constrained or constricted or constricting; "tight skirts"; "he hated tight starched collars"; "fingers closed in a tight fist"; "a tight feeling in his chest"