Definition of "tenterhook" []

• A hooked nail for securing cloth on a tenter. (noun)
• On tenterhooks In a state of uneasiness, suspense, or anxiety. (idiom)

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.

• "‡ A tenterhook was a hooked device used in the 1700s to secure newly woven cloth onto a frame."
• "Which makes one wonder: what exactly is a tenterhook?"
• "Something sharp from behind; a tenterhook in his shoulders."