You use tensile when you are talking about the amount of stress that materials such as wire, rope, and concrete can take without breaking; a technical term in engineering.
Certain materials can be manufactured with a high tensile strength.
tensile in British English
(ˈtɛnsaɪl)
adjective
1.
of or relating to tension
2.
sufficiently ductile to be stretched or drawn out
Derived forms
tensilely (ˈtensilely)
adverb
tensility (tɛnˈsɪlɪtɪ) or tensileness (ˈtensileness)
noun
Word origin
C17: from New Latin tensilis, from Latin tendere to stretch
tensile in American English
(ˈtɛnsəl; Chiefly British ˈtɛnˌsaɪl)
adjective
1.
of, undergoing, or exerting tension
2.
capable of being stretched
Derived forms
tensility (tenˈsility) (tɛnˈsɪləti)
noun
Word origin
ModL tensilis < L tensus: see tense1
Examples of 'tensile' in a sentence
tensile
Jacki's face was so fierce, her voice husky with a tensile fear so pure that he answered her immediately.
Patrick Ness THE CRASH OF HENNINGTON (2003)
All related terms of 'tensile'
tensile load
a measure of the ability of a material to withstand a longitudinal stress , expressed as the greatest stress that the material can stand without breaking
tensile stress
stress which pulls apart an ( elastic ) material or structure
tensile strength
a measure of the ability of a material to withstand a longitudinal stress , expressed as the greatest stress that the material can stand without breaking
high-tensile steel
low-alloy steel which can withstand great strain without breaking or becoming deformed , having a yield strength range of 50,000 to 100,000 pounds per square inch
high-tensile wire
wire which can withstand great strain without breaking or becoming deformed