tenter
- a framework on which cloth in the process of manufacture is stretched so it may set or dry evenly.
- Obsolete. a tenterhook.
- to stretch (cloth) on a tenter or tenters.
- to be capable of being tentered.
Origin of tenter
Examples from the Web for tenter
Historical Examples of tenter
I'm on tenter hooks to know whether I shall have a Reprimand, or a bad conduct mark in my report.
A Young Girl's DiaryAn Anonymous Young Girl
Tenter de s'lever le long de ses parois, qui ne prsentaient aucune saillie, tait impraticable.
Le chteau des CarpathesJules Verne
At one kind two girls sit, each watching an edge of the cloth and keeping it straight on the tenter hooks, so it will feed evenly.
Making Both Ends MeetSue Ainslie Clark and Edith Wyatt
Sometimes hooks were used, from which we get the phrase 'to be on tenter hooks'—to be on a stretch with anxiety.
The History of LondonWalter Besant
Whenever the lantern was filled, the tenter carried the roving to a simple machine, where it was wound upon bobbins by hand.
tenter
- 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
- (tr) to stretch (cloth) on a tenter
Word Origin for tenter
Word Origin and History for tenter
c.1300, "wooden framework for stretching cloth," via Old French (the evolution of the ending is obscure), probably ultimately from Latin tentorium "tent made of stretched skins," from tentus "stretched," variant past participle of tendere "to stretch" (see tenet).