on tenterhooks

介词短语
中文释义
英 /ˌɒn ˈtɛntəhʊks/    美 /ˌɔn ˈtɛntəɹˌhʊks/|/ˌɑn-/|[-ɾəɹ-]

英文释义

介词短语
  1. In a state of (great) apprehension or suspense; on pins and needles; on the rack. idiomatic
    — I made no reply, but left him upon the tenter-hooks of impatient uncertainty.

词形变化

on tender hooks alternative on the tenterhooks alternative

词源

Metaphorically stretched taut, like a piece of cloth on a tenter (“a framework upon which cloth is stretched and dried”) secured by tenterhooks. First attested in the mid-1700s.
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