Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Anxiety or apprehension resulting from an uncertain, undecided, or mysterious situation.
- noun The quality in a work of narrative art, such as a novel or film, that causes the audience to experience pleasurable excitement and anticipation regarding an outcome.
- noun Archaic The state or quality of being undecided, uncertain, or indecisive.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To suspend.
- Held or lifted up; suspended.
- Held in doubt or expectation; also, expressing or proceeding from suspense or doubt.
- noun The state of being suspended; specifically, the state of having the mind or thoughts suspended; especially, a state of uncertainty, usually with more or less apprehension or anxiety; indetermination; indecision.
- noun Cessation for a time; stop.
- noun Suspension; a holding in an undetermined state.
- noun In law, suspension; a temporary cessation of a man's right, as when the rent or other profits of land cease by unity of possession of land and rent.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The state of being suspended; specifically, a state of uncertainty and expectation, with anxiety or apprehension; indetermination; indecision.
- noun Cessation for a time; stop; pause.
- noun (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.
- noun (Bookkeeping) an account in which receipts or disbursements are temporarily entered until their proper position in the books is determined.
- adjective obsolete Held or lifted up; held or prevented from proceeding.
- adjective obsolete Expressing, or proceeding from, suspense or doubt.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun the condition of being
suspended - noun the
pleasurable emotion ofanticipation andexcitement regarding theoutcome orclimax of abook ,film etc - noun the
unpleasant emotion ofanxiety orapprehension in anuncertain situation
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun apprehension about what is going to happen
- noun excited anticipation of an approaching climax
- noun an uncertain cognitive state
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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"This suspense is a thousand times worse than the most horrible event: tell me what new scene of death has been acted, and whose murder I am now to lament."
Chapter 4 2010
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"This suspense is a thousand times worse than the most horrible event: tell me what new scene of death has been acted, and whose murder I am now to lament."
Chapter 21 2010
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When I find the suspense is overwhelming, I will slowly read the series again - meaning no more than one book in the series in one day, spreading it out as much as possible.
msagara: Acts of faith & entitlement issues msagara 2009
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Some books I cant 'stand to live in suspense for any amount of time so I just keeping reading until I either fall dead from exhaustion/hunger or my family remembers they haven't seen me for a couple days.
Angels' Blood Countdown: Lisa Hendrix - Immortal Warrior Nalini Singh 2009
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Forgive the reference to TV, but one of the best way s to illustrate suspense is the show “24.”
Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Libby Fischer Hellmann On Suspense, part 1 2009
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So as not to keep anyone in suspense, in the end I took the editor's advice, rewrote the story, and sent it out again.
MIND MELD: Shrewd Writing Advice From Some of Science Fiction's & Fantasy's Best Writers 2009
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The slow burn suspense is one of the highlights of the film.
Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat 2009
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We are sorry at having kept you in suspense respecting the account; but we waited for the printers acct of Hazlewood Hall, which we have not yet received; but whatever its amount may be is of little consequence.
Letter 373 2009
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April 03, 2009 at 06: 02 PM what'd you buy? if you want to keep the lenndevours readers in suspense, just email me.
Wine Blogging Wednesday #56 Announcement: Fine Kosher Wines 2009
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And by the way, not to keep anyone here in suspense, I don't approve of the Warsaw-Gaza comparison.
Archive 2009-03-01 2009
john commented on the word suspense
"Perhaps it is no coincidence that the Army’s term for a deadline is a "suspense," sometimes abbreviated simply "S:" and followed by a date. The first time I was told that I had to "meet a suspense," I didn’t know where to turn, but now I understand the aptness of referring even to an end by a term most of us associate with uncertainty. The Army is a life of perpetual suspense: the soldier waits for war to begin and then waits for it to end."
- The New York Times, September 30, 2007
September 29, 2007