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Definition of "tenter" [ten•ter]

  • A framework on which milled cloth is stretched for drying without shrinkage. (noun)
  • Archaic A tenterhook. (noun)
  • To stretch (cloth) on a tenter. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "tenter" in a sentence
  • "Lily, a regular "tenter," shot up freely, grew up a real tomboy, went a bit too far, in fact, Ma said: at Honolulu, for instance, on the road to"
  • "To prevent this shrinkage, the wet cloth would be placed on a large wooden frame, a "tenter", and left to dry outside."
  • "Those poor lads will now be on tenter hooks for the next 6months at least before the results of the enquiry are delivered."
Words like "tenter"
manquer
sauver
stretch
subitement
to be on tenterhooks
to be on the tenter-hooks