heightens
SayHY-tuhnz/ˈhaɪtənz/
- 1Third-person singular present of heighten.
The slow build of the music heightens the tension in the final scene.
A lack of sleep heightens anxiety and dulls a person's focus.
Note
The -s signals a singular subject in the present tense. Plural subjects and modals take bare heighten: the delays heighten it, it will heighten. The verb carries two meanings. One is literal, to raise something higher. The other is figurative, to make something stronger or more intense, as when music heightens tension or sleeplessness heightens anxiety. The figurative meaning is the familiar one.
heightens is a form of heighten
heighten, verb: To increase something or make it stronger, larger, or more intense. Full entry
- Forms
- heightenheightens he/she/itheightening -ing formheightened past tense, past participle
- Spelling
- heighten → heightens: add -s
Use it in a sentence
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