How to Use tenterhook in a Sentence

tenterhook

noun
Definition of tenterhooknext
  • Since Season 1 of Riverdale ended, fans have been on tenterhooks.
    — Amy MacKelden, Harper's BAZAAR, 1 Sep. 2017
  • President Trump should announce who the new Fed Chair will be after keeping us on tenterhooks for the last few months.
    — Washington Post, 30 Oct. 2017
  • For them, the concert hall is a place of tenterhooks and dueling impulses.
    — Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 29 Sep. 2017
  • The country has been on tenterhooks in recent weeks, with many voters eager to learn if any evidence of hacking had been found.
    — CNN, 21 Sep. 2017
  • The side's impressive counter-attacking football is bound to offer some hope to the fans, who remain on tenterhooks as their team now sit just one point away from the bottom three.
    — SI.com, 14 Jan. 2018
  • Back then, critics were hardly on tenterhooks waiting for the man's latest tunes, either.
    — Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2018
  • While that's left traders on tenterhooks, some are arguing conditions are ripe for a market rebound.
    — Andreea Papuc, Bloomberg.com, 25 Mar. 2018
  • The world was on tenterhooks until the following morning, waiting to see if, and how, the president would tweet in response to the entire situation.
    — Graeme McMillan, WIRED, 15 Apr. 2018
  • China’s tech businesses have been on tenterhooks in recent months.
    — Yoko Kubota, WSJ, 28 June 2018
  • Hondurans have been on tenterhooks since last year, when T.P.S. designation for their country was up for renewal.
    — Miriam Jordan, New York Times, 4 May 2018
  • Still on tenterhooks after the gripping final scene of Outlander's season premiere?
    — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, 7 Nov. 2018
  • With global powers on tenterhooks, the risk of a miscalculation -- and a knee-jerk deployment of a nuclear weapon -- would increase.
    — Eliza MacKintosh, CNN, 20 July 2019
  • Now, Klopp has established a style of football which severely limits the oppositions chances on goal, but the feeling of being on tenterhooks remains deeply ingrained at the club.
    — SI.com, 15 Dec. 2017
  • The taut lyricism of Lee’s work, a lyricism on tenterhooks, counteracts but cannot entirely transform a world still echoing with his father’s reprimands.
    — Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 8 May 2017
  • Those unflattering impressions are not likely to be improved if Trump, ever the showman himself, tunes in on cable television to watch Comey starring in a hearing that keeps the rest of the country on tenterhooks.
    — Stephen Collinson, CNN, 17 May 2017
  • His remarks on Sunday came after President Trump’s decision drew a mixed response in a region on tenterhooks over a potential war.
    — Summer Said, WSJ, 23 June 2019
  • Herein lies dark soundscaping, tropicalia on tenterhooks, broken beat, Tuareg melodies, Bahía drumming.
    — New York Times, 4 May 2018
  • Specifically, Remington — indeed, the entire firearms industry — is on tenterhooks waiting for a potential landmark ruling from the Connecticut Supreme Court.
    — Michael Hiltzik, latimes.com, 27 Mar. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tenterhook.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: