[General] tensed

[higurashi]

Hello,

I don't understand the meaning of "tensed" in the sentence below.

"Three ibexes with their scimitar-shaped horns had appeared on the cliff, about a hundred meters from the snow leopard.
We watched as the cat caught their scent, tensed, and slowly lifted his head."

Does it mean that the leopard was nervous when it caught the ibexes?
Or were these ibexes nervous because they were caught by the cat?

Thank you,
Higurashi

 

[tedmc]

The clue lies in "the cat caught their scent".
The was one leopard and three ibexes.

 

[higurashi]

The clue lies in "the cat caught their scent".
The was one leopard and three ibexes.

Thank you.

I understood the subject is the cat in this sentence.
But I still don't know why it "tensed".

 

[tedmc]

Thank you.

I understood the subject is the cat in this sentence.
But I still don't know why it "tensed".

It tightened its muscles to get ready (psychologically) to hunt its prey.

 

[tedmc]

Oh, it makes sense!

Thank you, very much.

There shouldn't be a comma there

 

[GoesStation]

It tightened its muscles to get ready (psychologically) to hunt its [STRIKE]preys[/STRIKE] prey.

See above. "Prey" is never countable.

 

[tedmc]

See above. "Prey" is never countable.

It can be countable.
https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/t...The noun prey can be,or a collection of preys.

 

[Rover_KE]

But I still don't know why it "tensed".

It froze – remained absolutely motionless – so as not to alert its prey to its presence while considering its attack strategy.

 

[emsr2d2]

There should'nt be a comma there

That was true but your apostrophe is in the wrong place, and you omitted the closing punctuation mark.

 

[Tdol]

It tightened its muscles to get ready (psychologically) to hunt its prey.

A bit like this: https://simplycatbreeds.org/images/angry-cat.jpg

 

[Tdol]

It certainly is not countable in your sentence.

It may be countable in some contexts but I have never come across one.

I can only think of different species being regarded as different preys.

 

[jutfrank]

A bit like this: https://simplycatbreeds.org/images/angry-cat.jpg

Sorry to be picky but that cat's not about to pounce on any prey. It's feeling very threatened, in fact.

 

[emsr2d2]

This one is.

 

[Tdol]

Sorry to be picky but that cat's not about to pounce on any prey. It's feeling very threatened, in fact.

Good point, but it is up for a scrap and it is tense.