tender UK /ˈtɛn.dəː/US /ˈtɛn.dɚ/adjective 12noun 12verb 5adverb 1forms 8 adjective12 •Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.tender plants •full of soft, warm love and care toward someoneSuzanne was such a tender mother to her children. •Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.The lesser griefs that may be said, That breathe a thousand tender vows, Are but as servants in a house Where lies the master newly dead; […] — 1850 •Physically weak; not able to endure hardship. •Soft and easily chewed.The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy. — 2001 •Sensitive or painful to the touch.[…]poore Lord, is't I That chase thee from thy Countrie, and expose Those tender limbes of thine[…] — 1604 •Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.Our Bodies are not naturally more Tender than our Faces. — 1692 •Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.Things that are tender and unpleasing. — 1625 •Young and inexperienced.I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven. •Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel. •(no longer used) Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.I love Valentine, Whose life's as tender to me as my soul! — 1590 •(no longer used) Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.The civil authority should be tender of the honour of God and religion. — 1694 noun12 •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! •A formal offer to buy or sell something.We will submit our tender to you within the week. •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. — 1598 •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. •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. — 1938 •A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships. •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. — 1944 •The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry. •A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater. •Someone who tends or waits on something or someone. •Ellipsis of water tender (“firefighting apparatus”). •(no longer used) Care, kind concern, regard.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. — 1597 verb5 •To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid. •(formal) To offer, to give.You see how all conditions, how all minds, […] tender down Their services to Lord Timon. — 1605 •To work on a tender.Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering. — 1998 •(no longer used) To make tender or delicate; to weaken.To such as are wealthy, live plenteously, at ease, […] these viands are to be forborne, if they be inclined to, or suspect melancholy, as they tender their healths […]. — 2001 •(no longer used) To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.The angrie king hath banished me the court: And therefore as thou louest and tendrest me, Be thou my aduocate vnto these peeres. — 1594 adverb1 •tenderly formstendered · tendering · tendereth · tenders · more tender · tenderer · most tender · tenderest
