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tenterhooks

 [ten-ter-hook]   Origin

ten·ter·hook

   [ten-ter-hook]
noun
1.
one of the hooks or bent nails that hold cloth stretched on a tenter.
Idiom
2.
on tenterhooks, in a state of uneasy suspense or painful anxiety: The movie keeps one on tenterhooks until the very last moment.

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Tenterhooks is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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Origin:
1470–80; tenter + hook
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tenterhooks
late 15c., "one of the hooks that holds cloth on a tenter," from tenter + hook. The figurative phrase on tenterhooks "in painful suspense" is from 1748; earlier to be on tenters (1530s).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

tenterhooks

see on tenterhooks.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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