Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tenter

Tenter , noun

1.
One who takes care of, or tends, machines in a factory; a kind of assistant foreman.
2.
(Machinery) A kind of governor.

Tenter , noun

[Old English tenture, tentoure, Old French tenture a stretching, spreading, French tenture hangings, tapestry, from Latin tendere, tentum, to stretch. See Tend to move.]

A machine or frame for stretching cloth by means of hooks, called tenter-hooks, so that it may dry even and square.
Collocations (3)
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 To be on the tenter-hooks or To be on tenterhooks , to be on the stretch; to be in distress, uneasiness, or suspense. — Hudibras

Tenter , intransitive verb

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

Tenter , transitive verb

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