English Explanatory Dictionary

tender

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Sensitive or painful to the touch.
  2. Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.
  3. Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.
  4. Soft and easily chewed.
  5. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
  6. Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.
  7. Young and inexperienced.
  8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.
  9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.
  10. Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
  11. Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
  12. Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of.
noun
  1. Care, kind concern, regard.
  2. The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry.
adv
  1. tenderly
verb
  1. To make tender or delicate; to weaken.
  2. To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration.
noun
  1. A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
  2. A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.
  3. A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.
  4. A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
  5. Ellipsis of water tender (“firefighting apparatus”).
  6. Someone who tends or waits on something or someone.
verb
  1. To work on a tender.
noun
  1. Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.
  2. A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.
  3. A formal offer to buy or sell something.
  4. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.
verb
  1. To offer, to give.
  2. To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid.

Pronunciation

/ˈtɛn.dəː/ [ˈtʰɛn.dəː] /ˈtɛn.dɚ/ [ˈtʰɛn.dɚ] ~ [ˈtʰɛn.dɹ̩] en-us-tender.ogg /ˈtɪn.dɚ/ [ˈtʰɪ̟n.dɚ] ~ [ˈtʰɪ̟n.dɹ̩]

Word forms

tender tenderer tenderest tenders more tender most tender tendering tendered

Etymology

From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).

Synonyms

nesh dinghy offer

Related words

legal tender put out to tender put out for tender

Derived words

chicken tender fork-tender frost-tender tenderfoot tender-handed tenderhearted tenderise tenderize tender loving care TLC tenderly tenderminded tenderness tenderoni tender porcelain tender years doctrine airship tender balloon tender brake tender budtender buoy tender crash tender seaplane tender sub tender tender cab tender engine tender-first tender loco tender locomotive water tender tenderman bartender e-tender split tender tender offer tenderable tender something out
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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