on tenterhooks









on tenterhooks


noun

  1. one of the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter.

Idioms

  1. on tenterhooks, in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety: The movie keeps one on tenterhooks until the very last moment.

noun

  1. one of a series of hooks or bent nails used to hold cloth stretched on a tenter
  2. on tenterhooks in a state of tension or suspense

To be kept on tenterhooks is to be held in a state of nervous apprehension: “We’ve been on tenterhooks since the election results started coming in.” In a state of painful suspense, as in We were on tenterhooks all through the game, hoping against hope that our team would win. This expression alludes to hooks that formerly were used to hold newly woven cloth that was being stretched on a frame. Their name has long survived this method of manufacture. [Mid-1700s]

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