tender

1. 1

   Sensitive or painful to the touch.

   • […]poore Lord, is't I That chaſe thee from thy Countrie, and expoſe Thoſe tender limbes of thine[…]
   • Be careful: that area is tender.
2. 2

   Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.

   • tender plants
   • tender flesh
3. 3

   Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.

   • the tender and delicate woman among you
4. 4

   Soft and easily chewed.

   • The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy.
5. 5

   Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.

   • Our Bodies are not naturally more Tender than our Faces.
6. 6

   Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.

   • Suzanne was such a tender mother to her children.
7. 7

   Young and inexperienced.

   • I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven.
8. 8

   Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.

   • tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain
9. 9

   Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.

   • a tender subject
10. 10

    Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.

syn. nesh

1. 1

   Care, kind concern, regard.countableobsoleteuncountable

   • Stay, and breath awhile. Thou haſt redeem'd thy loſt opinion And ſhew'd thou makeſt ſome tender of my life In this faire reſcue thou haſt brought to mee.
2. 2

   The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.countableuncountable

1. 1

   tenderly

   • Love me tender, love me sweet Never let me go

1. 1

   To make tender or delicate; to weaken.archaic

   • Putnam Fadeless Dyes will not injure any material. Boiling water does tender some materials. […] Also, silk fibers are very tender when wet and care should be take not to boil them too vigorously.
2. 2

   To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.archaic

   • The angrie king hath banished me the court: And therefore as thou louest and tendrest me, Be thou my aduocate vnto these peeres.
   • Firſt, heauen be the record to my ſpeech, In the deuotion of a ſubiects loue, Tendering the precious ſafetie of my Prince, And free from other misbegotten hate, Come I appealant to rhis [sic] Princely preſence.

1. 1

   A specialized rail wagon hauled behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.

   • Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping.
   • Of locomotive interest was "an engine house for spare engines which was about 60 ft. × 51 ft.; on the outside of this was an immense turntable sufficient to turn the engine and tender at once."
2. 2

   A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.

   • submarine tender
   • destroyer tender
3. 3

   A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.

   • The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m.
4. 4

   A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.

   • Now, with scallop populations under pressure, Mr. Sewell is one of only about 30 active scallop divers left in his state. He and his tender, Jason Simmons, have harvested scallops together each winter and early spring for the past seven yea
   • The first of two willful violations OSHA found were the diver and dive tender "performing dredging operations in a canal with zero-visibility, did not have the experience and training in the use of tools, equipment, systems, techniques, and
5. 5

   Ellipsis of water tender (“firefighting apparatus”).abbreviationalt-ofellipsis

6. 6

   Someone who tends or waits on something or someone.

1. 1

   To work on a tender.

   • Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering.

1. 1

   Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.

   • You offer me the sword of my father, the very man whose bones, because of your perfidy, lie under the sod of Crecy. Aye, I'll surely take it, and just as surely you shall die with your tender through your heart!
2. 2

   A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.

   • Your credit card has been declined so you need to provide some other tender such as cash.
   • legal tender
3. 3

   A formal offer to buy or sell something.

   • We will submit our tender to you within the week.
4. 4

   Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.

   • [...] if she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it; for the man,—as you know all,—hath a contemptible spirit.

1. 1

   To offer, to give.formal

   • to tender one’s resignation
   • 1864 November 21, Abraham Lincoln (signed) or John Hay, letter to Mrs. Bixby in Boston I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
2. 2

   To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid.

syn. offer