tenterhook: Meaning and Definition of

ten•ter•hook

Pronunciation: (ten'tur-hook"), [key]
— n.
  1. one of the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter.
  2. in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety: The movie keeps one on tenterhooks until the very last moment.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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