Is the expression tenterhooks or TENDERhooks?

First, let’s get one thing straight: you are on TENTERhooks, not TENDERhooks. To be on tenterhooks is to be filled with painful or anxious anticipation or suspense, such as when you’re waiting for the result of an important medical test.

Why do we say on tenterhooks?

Tenterhooks were used in the process of making woollen cloth. The saying ‘to be on tenterhooks’ originated from this method of controlled drying, used to mean being in a state of uneasiness, anxiety, or suspense.

Why does tenterhooks mean anxious?

Tenterhooks or tenter hooks are hooked nails in a device called a tenter. Tenters were wooden frames which were used as far back as the 14th century in the process of making woollen cloth. The phrase “on tenterhooks” has become a metaphor for nervous anticipation.

What is a Tenterhook used for?

: a sharp hooked nail used especially for fastening cloth on a tenter. on tenterhooks. : in a state of uneasiness, strain, or suspense the waiting kept us on tenterhooks.

What are tenter posts?

These stone posts are called ‘Tenter’ posts. During the Industrial Revolution the tenterfield would have held rows and rows of them. They were used for stretching and drying long rolls of cloth from the textile industry. A pair of continuous, horizontal rails would have been fixed to the posts.

Is tenter a Scrabble word?

Yes, tenter is in the scrabble dictionary.

How do you use tenterhooks in a sentence?

one of a series of hooks used to hold cloth on a tenter.

1. We were kept on tenterhooks for hours while the judges chose the winner.
2. She had been on tenterhooks all night, expecting Joe to return at any moment.
3. He was still on tenterhooks waiting for his directors’ decision about the job.

Is nervy a bad word?

Rude and disrespectful: assuming, assumptive, audacious, bold, boldfaced, brash, brazen, cheeky, contumelious, familiar, forward, impertinent, impudent, insolent, malapert, overconfident, pert, presuming, presumptuous, pushy, sassy, saucy, smart.

Where does the phrase’on tenterhooks’come from?

This time the word is ‘tenter’, which is a wooden frame used to dry cloth. The wet cloth was fixed to the frame with hooks, hence the expression. So, ‘on tenterhooks’ means ‘under stress or tension’ and it is easy to see how it came to be used as a general term for anxiety or uneasiness. more on the meaning and origin of ‘On tenterhooks’ 6.

What kind of Hook is a Tenterhook?

Tenterhooks are hooks in a device called a tenter. Tenters were originally large wooden frames which were used as far back as the 14th century in the process of making woollen cloth.

Where are the last remaining 18th century tenter hooks?

Tenterhooks on what may be the world’s last remaining 18th-century tenter frames at Otterburn Mill, Northumberland. Tenterhooks or tenter hooks are hooked nails in a device called a tenter. Tenters were wooden frames which were used as far back as the 14th century in the process of making woolen cloth.

Why do people put woolen cloth on tenterhooks?

A tenter, from the Latin word meaning stretch, is a wooden frame that people use to make woolen cloth. After weaving the wool, wool workers still need to clean away the dirt without shrinking the material. Therefore, the workers put the wet cloth on these wooden frames to ensure that the material will remain stretched.