Crossword Genius

Distressed kite feeding - it’s withdrawn and tense (5-4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

knife-edge

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'tense' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.

'distressed kite feeding it's withdrawn' is the wordplay.
'distressed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'withdrawn' is a deletion indicator.
'kite'+'feeding'='kitefeeding'
'kitefeeding' with 'it' taken out is 'kefeeding'.
'kefeeding' with letters rearranged gives 'KNIFE-EDGE'.

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for knife-edge that I've seen is " precarious situation".)

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