Word-Built World: tenterhook

A.Word.A.Daywith Anu Garg

tenterhook

PRONUNCIATION:

(TEN-tuhr-hook) 

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

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