tenterhooks

noun

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

Idioms

2. 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

n.late 15c., “one of the hooks that holds cloth on a tenter,” from tenter + hook (n.). The figurative phrase on tenterhooks “in painful suspense” is from 1748; earlier to be on tenters (1530s). see on tenterhooks.