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Tenterhooks Steven Waited Win Award Uncertain Anxious Tense

Idiom On Tenterhooks
Example Steven waited on tenterhooks to see if he would win the award.
Meaning uncertain, anxious, very tense; in painful suspense about how something will turn out
Origin In the mid-1700s, when this saying originated, a tenter was a frame for stretching newly woven cloth. The "tenterhook" was a hook or bent nail that held the cloth to the tenter. At that time a person who was worried sick not knowing the outcome of a situation was said to be "on tenters," meaning that their emotions were stretched out tensely. Later the phrase became "on tenterhooks," which expressed even sharper and more intense feeling.

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