tenter

[ ten-ter ]

/ ˈtɛn tər /

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noun

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

Obsolete. a tenterhook.

verb (used with object)

to stretch (cloth) on a tenter or tenters.

verb (used without object)

to be capable of being tentered.

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Origin of tenter

1300–50; Middle English tente to stretch (<Latin tentus, variant of tēnsustense¹) + -er¹; replacing Middle English teyntur, of unclear derivation

OTHER WORDS FROM tenter

un·ten·tered, adjective

Words nearby tenter

tent caterpillar, tent circus, tent city, tent dress, tented, tenter, tenterhook, tenterhooks, tent fly, tenth, Tenth Amendment

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tenter in a sentence

Too near for reflection; too far for intervention: on tenter hooks, in fact; a sort of mental crucifixion.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
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.
Bella Donna|Robert Hichens
Some were hung by the feet to tenter-hooks driven into poles; and in that wretched posture left till they perished.
Fox's Book of Martyrs|John Foxe
Meanwhile the guns were unlimbered, and their anxious crew (the battery had never been in action before) were on tenter-hooks.
The Relief of Mafeking|Filson Young

When the time of his return came nigh, Aunt Judith and the household were on the tenter-hooks of impatience.
The Fortunes of Nigel|Sir Walter Scott

British Dictionary definitions for tenter

tenter

/ (ˈtɛntə) /

noun

a frame on which cloth is stretched during the manufacturing process in order that it may retain its shape while drying

a person who stretches cloth on a tenter

verb

(tr) to stretch (cloth) on a tenter

Word Origin for tenter

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012