Ten"ter, n. [OE. tenture, tentoure, OF. tenture a stretching,
spreading, F. tenture hangings, tapestry, from L. 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.
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.
Ten"ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tentered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Tentering.]
To admit extension.
Woolen cloth will tenter, linen scarcely.
Bacon.
Ten"ter, v. t. To hang or stretch on, or as on, tenters.
Tent"ful (?), n.; pl. Tentfuls (&?;). As much, or as many, as a tent
will hold.
Tenth (?), a. [From Ten: cf. OE. tethe, AS. teó&?;a. See Ten, and cf.
Tithe.] 1. Next in order after the ninth; coming after nine others.
2. Constituting or being one of ten equal parts into which anything is
divided.
Tenth (?), n. 1. The next in order after the ninth; one coming after
nine others.
2. The quotient of a unit divided by ten; one of ten equal parts into
which anything is divided.
3. The tenth part of annual produce, income, increase, or the like; a
tithe. Shak.
4. (Mus.) The interval between any tone and the tone represented on the
tenth degree of the staff above it, as between one of the scale and
three of the octave above; the octave of the third.
5. pl. (Eng. Law) (a) A temporary aid issuing out of personal property,
and granted to the king by Parliament; formerly, the real tenth part of
all the movables belonging to the subject. (b) (Eccl. Law) The tenth
part of the annual profit of every living in the kingdom, formerly paid
to the pope, but afterward transferred to the crown. It now forms a
part of the fund called Queen Anne's Bounty. Burrill.
Tenth"ly, adv. In a tenth manner.
{ Tenth"me`ter, Tenth"me`tre } (?), n. (Physics) A unit for the
measurement of many small lengths, such that 1010 of these units make
one meter; the ten millionth part of a millimeter.
||Ten`thre*din"i*des (?), n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; a kind of wasp.]
||(Zoöl.) A group of Hymneoptera comprising the sawflies.
||
Ten"tif (?), a. Attentive. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ten"tif*ly, adv. Attentively. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ten*tig"i*nous (?), a. [L. tentigo, -inis, a tension, lecherousness,
fr. tendere, tentum, to stretch.] 1. Stiff; stretched; strained. [Obs.]
Johnson.