A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg
tenterhook
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun: One of various hooks used for stretching cloth on a frame.
ETYMOLOGY:
From tenter (a frame for stretching cloth to dry during manufacturing), from tendere (to stretch) + hook, from Old English hoc. Earliest documented use: 1480.
NOTES:
The word is typically used in the phrase “on tenterhooks” meaning in a state of suspense or anxiety, like nerves pegged to a frame.

Tenterhook frame with cloth. Photo: Chiome-gold / Wikimedia