Cliffhanger

[klif-hang-er] /ˈklɪfˌhæŋ ər/

noun
1.
a melodramatic adventure serial in which each installment ends in suspense in order to interest the reader or viewer in the next installment.
2.
a situation or contest of which the outcome is suspensefully uncertain up to the very last moment:
The game was a cliff-hanger, but our team finally won.
/ˈklɪfˌhæŋə/
noun
1.

2.
a situation that is dramatic or uncertain
n.

also cliffhanger, “suspenseful situation,” 1937, in reference to U.S. cinema serials, agent noun from cliff + agent noun from hang (v.). In some cases, especially Westerns, the hero or heroine literally was dangling from a cliff at the end of an episode.

noun

A very suspenseful story, film, game, situation, etc: The election was a cliffhanger, right through the recount

[1937+; fr the fact that the actress Pearl White actually ended some episodes of her early serial movies hanging from the Palisades above the Hudson River]

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[klif-hang-er] /ˈklɪfˌhæŋ ər/ noun 1. a melodramatic adventure serial in which each installment ends in suspense in order to interest the reader or viewer in the next installment. 2. a situation or contest of which the outcome is suspensefully uncertain up to the very last moment: The game was a cliff-hanger, but our team finally […]
Cliff-hanging
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