Definitions
Wiktionary
- n. Plural form of tenterhook.
Examples
“The AbitibiBowater paper mill near Liverpool is expected to reopen as planned next week, though the community is on "tenterhooks" as the company seeks bankruptcy protection, the mayor of the region says.”
“Today you mentioned being on "tender hooks '"; I believe the term is actually "tenterhooks" implying a state of anxiety (and actually, in origin, is related to the manufacture of cloth!).”
“The 16-strong team was on "tenterhooks" over the delicate bid to separate Trishna and Krishna, aged two, which will take about 16 hours, plastic surgeon Tony Holmes told reporters at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital.”
“O'Brien, who is currently embroiled in a key storyline, said all the cast and crew had been on "tenterhooks" waiting to hear good news.”
“tenterhooks" and fearing for his son's life if the all-rounder travels to play in next month's Indian Premier League.”
“Now prices must remain high to encourage U.S. farmers to plant more corn and soybeans in the spring, and traders will be on tenterhooks to see whether crops in the U.S. are enough to correct the deficit in inventories.”
“I am SO on tenterhooks to find out how it's going to end.”
“Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Harris Private Bank, said investors were now on tenterhooks awaiting Friday's job figures.”
The Guardian: Dow Jones returns to losing ways as investor confidence evaporates
“Although the prime minister scrapped the referendum, a looming government confidence vote kept the market on tenterhooks.”
“The ratings agency said at the time that it would make a decision as soon as possible after a European Union December summit in Brussels and said it could lower France's rating by as much as two notches, a warning that has left investors on tenterhooks for weeks now.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tenterhooks’.
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Stump the Beezer
incipient, apocryphal, spurious, compendium, genius loci, tenterhooks, effusive, syncophant, glycosyn, pugnacious, secure authentica...
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Words from Goethe's Italian Journey
melic, ostler, brazier, tenterhooks, pannier, cortege, bier, pall, cloister, biretta, tonsured, lazzarone and 27 more...
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Hooks
hook, Captain Hook, shook, grappling hook, meat hook, pruning hook, hooks, hook 'em horns, Hook 'em Horns, sky-hook, hook, line, and s..., hook, line and si... and 66 more...
stephanieconn Often misused as "Tenderhooks." Jun 8, 2009
stephanieconn The compound tenterhook (1480) is "one of the hooks that holds cloth on a tenter." The figurative phrase on tenterhooks "in painful suspense" is from 1748; earlier to be on tenters (1533).
from: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=t&p=6 Jun 8, 2009
oroboros Tenderhooks are much nicer, and, of course, preferred! Aug 16, 2007
slumry If one is on tenterhooks, he is in a state of painful anxiety or unease. Jun 27, 2007