anxiously waiting for news about someone or something.

She was on tenterhooks until her son called and said he was not hurt.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of tenterhook (= a hook that holds cloth that is stretched to dry), suggesting that someone's emotions are tightly stretched like a piece of cloth held by tenterhooks

• put someone on a collision course
• put someone on a pedestal
• put someone on edge
• put someone on the map
• put someone on the right track
• put someone on the shelf
• put someone on the spot
• put someone out of action
• put someone out of its misery
• put someone out of mind
• put someone out of misery
• put someone out of their misery
• put someone out of your mind
• put someone out to pasture
• put someone over knee
• put someone over the top
• put someone over your knee
• put someone's back up
• put someone's mind at ease
• put someone's mind at rest
• put someone's nose out of joint
• put someone through
• put someone through hell
• put someone through hoops
• put someone through paces