"on tenterhooks" meaning in All languages combined

{
  "etymology_text": "Metaphorically stretched taut, on tenterhooks.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "on tenterhooks",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "on tenterhooks",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1921, John Galsworthy, chapter 12, in The Forsyte Saga, part 1",
          "text": "Why do you keep me on tenterhooks like this, putting me off and off?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 21, Philip Oltermann, “Escaped ‘lioness’ in Berlin was most likely a wild boar, mayor says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A 30-hour search for an escaped lioness that had residents on the southern fringes of Berlin shelter in their homes and the rest of the German capital on tenterhooks has found that what was thought to be an exotic feline predator was most likely a common wild pig.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a state of suspense or apprehension."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_tenterhooks-en-prep_phrase-Uvik4IzM",
      "links": [
        [
          "suspense",
          "suspense"
        ],
        [
          "apprehension",
          "apprehension"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a state of suspense or apprehension."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "on pins and needles"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌɒn ˈtɛn.təɹˌhʊks/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-on tenterhooks.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "on tenterhooks"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Metaphorically stretched taut, on tenterhooks.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "on tenterhooks",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "on tenterhooks",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1921, John Galsworthy, chapter 12, in The Forsyte Saga, part 1",
          "text": "Why do you keep me on tenterhooks like this, putting me off and off?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 21, Philip Oltermann, “Escaped ‘lioness’ in Berlin was most likely a wild boar, mayor says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN",
          "text": "A 30-hour search for an escaped lioness that had residents on the southern fringes of Berlin shelter in their homes and the rest of the German capital on tenterhooks has found that what was thought to be an exotic feline predator was most likely a common wild pig.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In a state of suspense or apprehension."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "suspense",
          "suspense"
        ],
        [
          "apprehension",
          "apprehension"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a state of suspense or apprehension."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˌɒn ˈtɛn.təɹˌhʊks/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-au-on tenterhooks.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/64/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/En-au-on_tenterhooks.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "on pins and needles"
    }
  ],
  "word": "on tenterhooks"
}