Word.ws English Dictionary

on tenterhooks

Syllables: on ten·ter·hooksUK/ˌɒn ˈtɛntəhʊks/US/ˌɔn ˈtɛntəɹˌhʊks/

on tenterhooks prepositional phrase: in a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles; on the rack.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles; on the rack.
    • I made no reply, but left him upon the tenter-hooks of impatient uncertainty.[1748, [Tobias Smollett], “I Enquire about My Uncle, and Understand He is Gone to Sea— […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […]...
    • If I were efficient to the point of crankiness, I suppose I should come out at any hour between midnight and reveille, and so keep the guard on tenterhooks, and make the tour as hard for them as I could.1894, George Israel Putnam, On the Offensive: An Army Story, page 49, lines 14–18

on tenterhooks meaning in Bengali

on tenterhooks in Bengali

আশঙ্কা, উত্তেজনার অবস্থায়, অস্বস্তিকর প্রতীক্ষায়

Synonyms of on tenterhooks

Forms of on tenterhooks

alternative formon tender hooks
alternative formon the tenterhooks

Origin of on tenterhooks

Metaphorically stretched taut, like a piece of cloth on a tenter (“a framework upon which cloth is stretched and dried”) secured by tenterhooks. First attested in the mid-1700s.

Questions about on tenterhooks

What does on tenterhooks mean?
On tenterhooks means in a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles; on the rack.
What is on tenterhooks in Bengali?
On tenterhooks in Bengali is আশঙ্কা, উত্তেজনার অবস্থায়, অস্বস্তিকর প্রতীক্ষায়. See On tenterhooks meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is on tenterhooks?
On tenterhooks is a prepositional phrase.
How do you pronounce on tenterhooks?
On tenterhooks is pronounced /ˌɒn ˈtɛntəhʊks/ (UK).

Words near on tenterhooks in the dictionary

  1. on tape
  2. on target
  3. on task
  4. on television
  5. on tender hooks
  6. on tenterhooks
  7. on tenters
  8. on terms with
  9. on that note
  10. on that score
  11. on the

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on tenterhooks (page history and authors); on tenterhooks (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-on tenterhooks.ogg.

Cite this entry: “on tenterhooks.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_tenterhooks. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.