Tentering

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Stretching woven fabric on a frame so that it dries evenly and keeps its width during finishing
2. Pulling cloth taut on a rack with hooks or pins so that it dries straight and holds its shape
3. Drying and straightening newly woven or dyed textile by fixing its edges to a stretching frame

Etymology: "Tentering" is the present participle of "tenter", a verb meaning to stretch cloth taut on a frame. The noun "tenter" came into English from Old French and is perhaps derived from the Latin "tentorium", meaning a tent or a covering stretched over posts. The link makes sense for the trade: the cloth was pinned onto a wooden frame and pulled tight, much as a tent canvas is stretched over its supports. The "tenter" in question was the frame itself, a rack of pegged or hooked posts on which newly woven or fulled cloth was dried under tension so that it would not shrink or warp. Cloth was "tentered" on these frames, and the frames were often set up in open fields or yards, which is why the name stuck to a piece of equipment as much as to the process.

Synonyms: stretching

Antonyms: slackening