tenter

[ ten-ter ]

noun

1. a framework on which cloth in the process of manufacture is stretched so it may set or dry evenly.
2. Obsolete. a tenterhook.

verb (used with object)

1. to stretch (cloth) on a tenter or tenters.

verb (used without object)

1. to be capable of being tentered.

tenter

/ ˈtɛntə /

noun

1. a frame on which cloth is stretched during the manufacturing process in order that it may retain its shape while drying
2. a person who stretches cloth on a tenter

verb

1. tr to stretch (cloth) on a tenter

Other Words From

• un·tentered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenter¹

1300–50; Middle English tente to stretch (< Latin tentus, variant of tēnsus tense ¹ ) + -er ¹; replacing Middle English teyntur, of unclear derivation

Word History and Origins

Origin of tenter¹

C14: from Medieval Latin tentōrium, from Latin tentus stretched, from tendere to stretch

Example Sentences

Too near for reflection; too far for intervention: on tenter hooks, in fact; a sort of mental crucifixion.

From Project Gutenberg

She was not going to seem to give it him yet; a man on the tenter-hooks was a man in the perfectly right place.

From Project Gutenberg

Some were hung by the feet to tenter-hooks driven into poles; and in that wretched posture left till they perished.

From Project Gutenberg

Meanwhile the guns were unlimbered, and their anxious crew (the battery had never been in action before) were on tenter-hooks.

From Project Gutenberg

When the time of his return came nigh, Aunt Judith and the household were on the tenter-hooks of impatience.

From Project Gutenberg