TENTER

n. v.

5 definitions — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


1.
n.

One who takes care of, or tends, machines in a factory; a kind of assistant foreman.

2.
n.

A kind of governor.

3.
n.

A machine or frame for stretching cloth by means of hooks, called tenter-hooks, so that it may dry even and square. Tenter ground, a place where tenters are erected. -- Tenter-hook, a sharp, hooked nail used for fastening cloth on a tenter. -- To be on the tenters, or on the tenter-hooks, to be on the stretch; to be in distress, uneasiness, or suspense. Hudibras.

4.
v.

To admit extension. Woolen cloth will tenter, linen scarcely. Bacon.

5.
v.

To hang or stretch on, or as on, tenters.


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