What does tenterhooks mean in British?
worried or nervous
Meaning of tenterhooks in English worried or nervous about something that is going to happen: We were on tenterhooks all morning waiting for the phone to ring. Anxious and worried.
Is the saying tenterhooks or Tenderhooks?
On tenterhooks NOT on tender hooks This phrase, meaning worried anticipation, comes from the word ‘tenter’ which was a frame on which cloth was stretched to prevent shrinking. The tenterhook kept the cloth tense and tight – hence the expression. A tender hook isn’t a thing.
Why is it called tenterhooks?
It comes from the Latin word tentus, which means “to stretch.” The word ‘tenterhooks’ comes from the metal hooks that manufacturers used to stretch wool on a tenter while it dried.
How do you use tenterhooks in a sentence?
We’re on tenterhooks to discover if they will say yes. We are on tenterhooks until we hear you. This season they are on tenterhooks again. They were on tenterhooks, waiting for a phone call.
What does Rack and tenter mean?
Tenter definition An example of a tenter is a drying rack. noun. Tenter is defined as to stretch clothing over something to dry. An example of tenter is to stretch a damp shirt over a drying rack to avoid shrinkage as it drys.
What is the best definition of a bastion?
Definition of bastion 1 : a projecting part of a fortification a bastion at each of the fort’s five corners. 2 : a fortified area or position bombing island bastions. 3 : stronghold sense 2 the last bastion of academic standards — Amer. Scientist.
What does waiting on tenterhooks mean?
When someone is in a state of uneasiness or suspense, you might say that person is on tenterhooks. We’re on the edge of our seats to learn more. Other property owners in the area remain on tenterhooks.
What does high dudgeon mean?
angry or offended
Definition of in high dudgeon : feeling and usually showing that one is angry or offended She walked out of the meeting in high dudgeon.
What does the phrase going to seed mean?
Definition of ‘to go to seed/run to seed’ If you say that someone or something has gone to seed or has run to seed, you mean that they have become much less attractive, healthy, or efficient.
Where is the apex in the heart?
The heart sits atop the diaphragm and its apex is close to the anterior surface of the thoracic cavity. With every beat, the heart twists forward and the apex taps against the chest wall, producing the apex beat. This can be felt in the fifth left intercostal space.
What happened to Wu in hands of time?
Master Wu sacrifices himself (traveling to the Underworld through the realm passageway in the Fire Temple; letting himself be lost in the temporal vortex in the Iron Doom) in order keep the fourth weapon separate from the others to prevent the villains from achieving full power.
What are tenterhooks?
Tenterhooks are no longer widely used in cloth manufacturing, and the word tenterhooks is now almost exclusively used in the metaphorical phrase on tenterhooks, meaning in a state of painfully anxious suspense or tension.
Who published the book tenterhooks?
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. What does tenterhooks mean? Tenterhooks are hooks used to attach cloth to a tenter —a frame on which cloth is stretched during the manufacturing process so that it can keep its shape while drying.
Where does the figurative expression’on tenterhooks’come from?
It is easy to see how the figurative expression ‘on tenterhooks’, with its meaning of painful tension, derived from the ‘tenting’ or stretching of fabric. The expression was originally ‘on the tenters’.
What is the meaning of Tenter?
[ten-ter-hoo k] noun. one of the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter.