"on tenterhooks" meaning in English

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  "etymology_text": "Metaphorically stretched taut, like a piece of cloth on a tenter (“framework upon which cloth is stretched and dried”) secured by tenterhooks.",
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          "ref": "[1748, [Tobias Smollett], “I Enquire about My Uncle, and Understand He is Gone to Sea— […]”, in The Adventures of Roderick Random. […], volume I, London: […] [William Strahan] for J[ohn] Osborn […], →OCLC, page 94:",
          "text": "I made no reply, but left him upon the tenter-hooks of impatient uncertainty.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, John Galsworthy, “Dartie versus Dartie”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part II, page 187:",
          "text": "Having ordered a light repast, to the consternation of the waiter, they awaited its arrival together with that of Mr. Bellby, in silent reaction after the hour and a half's suspense on the tenterhooks of publicity.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921 September, John Galsworthy, “Caprice”, in To Let, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 114:",
          "text": "Why do you keep me on tenterhooks like this, putting me off and off?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 21, Philip Oltermann, “Escaped ‘lioness’ in Berlin was most likely a wild boar, mayor says”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-08:",
          "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": "quote"
        }
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        "In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles."
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          "on pins and needles",
          "on pins and needles"
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "like a cat on a hot tin roof"
        },
        {
          "word": "shpilkes"
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      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "in suspense"
        },
        {
          "word": "on tenters"
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        {
          "word": "on the tenters"
        }
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      "ipa": "/ˌɒn ˈtɛntəhʊks/",
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      "ipa": "/ˌɔn ˈtɛntəɹˌhʊks/",
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    {
      "ipa": "/ˌɑn-/",
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        "General-American",
        "cot-caught-merger"
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      "ipa": "[-ɾəɹ-]",
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  "word": "on tenterhooks"
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  "etymology_text": "Metaphorically stretched taut, like a piece of cloth on a tenter (“framework upon which cloth is stretched and dried”) secured by tenterhooks.",
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      "word": "like a cat on a hot tin roof"
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          "text": "I made no reply, but left him upon the tenter-hooks of impatient uncertainty.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1920, John Galsworthy, “Dartie versus Dartie”, in In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga; 2), London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, part II, page 187:",
          "text": "Having ordered a light repast, to the consternation of the waiter, they awaited its arrival together with that of Mr. Bellby, in silent reaction after the hour and a half's suspense on the tenterhooks of publicity.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1921 September, John Galsworthy, “Caprice”, in To Let, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, part I, page 114:",
          "text": "Why do you keep me on tenterhooks like this, putting me off and off?",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 21, Philip Oltermann, “Escaped ‘lioness’ in Berlin was most likely a wild boar, mayor says”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-11-08:",
          "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.",
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        }
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      "glosses": [
        "In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles."
      ],
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          "on pins and needles",
          "on pins and needles"
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        "(idiomatic) In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles."
      ],
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        {
          "word": "in suspense"
        },
        {
          "word": "on tenters"
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        {
          "word": "on the tenters"
        }
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      "ipa": "/ˌɒn ˈtɛntəhʊks/",
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  "word": "on tenterhooks"
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