tenter

American  

[ten-ter] / ˈtɛn tər /

noun

• tenters
  plural

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

2. Obsolete. a tenterhook.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

1. (tr) to stretch (cloth) on a tenter

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• untentered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tenters
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tenter

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tenter tenters

Soon Jocelin himself is wrestling with the high cost of inspiration, strung taut between the tenter hooks of divine and earthly means.

From Time Magazine Archive

The machine holds on tenter hooks—the hooks of the metaphorical reference—the damp cloth brought from the process of bleaching, and rolls it through evenly into a drier, where it slips off.

From Making Both Ends Meet The income and outlay of New York working girls by Sue Ainslie Clark

I always felt on tenter hooks in her presence, from the very first date of our acquaintanceship.

From She and I, Volume 1 by John C. (John Conroy) Hutcheson

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

From Gallipoli Diary, Volume I by Sir Ian Hamilton

But his chief fear was, and it kept him on tenter hooks throughout the day, that his grand exploit would be nipped in the bud, altogether frustrated, by his being prematurely fetched home.

From A Hero of Romance by Richard Marsh

At Colter Bay, in the Grand Tetons of Wyoming, a luxurious campground financed by the Rockefellers has segregated areas for cabin campers, trailer campers, campers, or just plain tenters.

From Time Magazine Archive

True woman!—How you love to put one upon the tenters!

From Pamela, Volume II by Samuel Richardson

But I was not at the end of my mortifications yet, neither, for now my innocent Quaker threw out an unhappy expression, which put me upon the tenters again.

From The Fortunate Mistress (Parts 1 and 2) or a History of the Life of Mademoiselle de Beleau Known by the Name of the Lady Roxana by Daniel Defoe

No thrall's hands in the hangings were, No thrall's hands made the tenters bare.

From Poems By The Way & Love Is Enough by William Morris

The engine tenters became very friendly with me, and they we re always glad to see me interested in them and their engines.

From James Nasmyth: Engineer; an autobiography by Samuel Smiles

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