on tenterhooks
In anxious suspense
On tenterhooks means in a state of anxious suspense or nervous anticipation: We were on tenterhooks waiting for the test results.
The phrase comes from the hooks that held cloth taut on a frame during manufacturing—stretched tight, like the nerves of someone awaiting uncertain news.
- nail-bitingExtremely tense or anxious
- nail biterSuspensefully close competition
- tenterCloth-stretching frame
- clenched fistsHands tightly closed
- sweaty palmsMoist hands from nerves
anticipation · bated breath · anxiety · apprehension · hanging by a thread · nervousness · foreboding · industrial revolution · dread · white knuckle · walking on eggshells · keyed-up · skating on thin ice · cliff-hanger · suspense · unease · worry · fraught
- anticipationanticipating, expectation, expectancy, expecting, awaiting
- Old Idiomsbeyond the pale, hue and cry, scot-free, knight in shining armor, eat humble pie
- suspensesuspense, suspenseful, nail-biter, nail-biting, cliffhanger