tensile
adjective /ˈtensaɪl/
/ˈtensl/
(specialist)- [only before noun] used to describe the extent to which something can stretch without breaking
- the tensile strength of rope
- This experiment demonstrates the tensile strength of the wire.
- that can be drawn out or stretched
- tensile cable
- You’ll need high tensile cable for the job.
Word Originearly 17th cent. (in sense (2)): from medieval Latin tensilis, from Latin tendere ‘to stretch’.