easily broken, cut, or crushed; soft; not tough easily damaged; vulnerable or sensitive: a tender youth, at a tender age having or expressing warm and affectionate feelings kind, merciful, or sympathetic: a tender heart arousing warm feelings; touching gentle and delicate: a tender breeze requiring care in handling; ticklish: a tender question painful or sore sensitive to moral or spiritual feelings - (postpositive) followed by of:
careful or protective: tender of one's emotions
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
ten•der1 /ˈtɛndɚ/USA pronunciation
adj., -er, -est, v.
adj.
ten•der•ness, n. [uncountable]See -tend-.
ten•der2 /ˈtɛndɚ/USA pronunciation v. [~ + object]
n.
tend•er3 /ˈtɛndɚ/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025adj.
- soft or delicate in substance:a tender steak.
- weak or delicate in constitution:tender skin that bruises easily.
- young or immature:[before a noun]children of a tender age.
- delicate or gentle:the tender touch of her hand.
- easily moved to sympathy or compassion;
kind:a tender heart. - affectionate or sentimental:gave her a tender glance.
- sharply or painfully sensitive:a tender bruise on his eye.
- of a delicate nature and requiring careful handling:The question of his wife working for the company is a tender subject with him.
ten•der•ness, n. [uncountable]See -tend-.
ten•der2 /ˈtɛndɚ/USA pronunciation v. [~ + object]
- to present formally for acceptance:to tender one's resignation.
n.
- [countable] the act of tendering.
- [uncountable] something tendered or offered, esp. money.
- Business[countable] an offer made in writing by one party to another to perform certain work, etc., at a given cost;
a bid.
tend•er3 /ˈtɛndɚ/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
- one who attends to someone or something.
- Nautical, Naval Termsa ship that attends other ships, as for supplying materials, etc.
ten•der1
(ten′dər),USA pronunciation adj., -er, -est, v.
adj.
v.t.
ten′der•ly, adv.
ten′der•ness, n.
ten•der2 (ten′dər),USA pronunciation v.t.
v.i.
n.
ten′der•er, n.
tend•er3 (ten′dər),USA pronunciation n.
adj.
- soft or delicate in substance;
not hard or tough:a tender steak. - weak or delicate in constitution;
not strong or hardy. - Botany(of plants) unable to withstand freezing temperatures.
- young or immature:children of tender age.
- delicate or soft in quality:tender blue.
- delicate, soft, or gentle:the tender touch of her hand.
- easily moved to sympathy or compassion;
kind:a tender heart. - affectionate or loving;
sentimental or amatory:a tender glance. - considerate or careful;
chary or reluctant (usually fol. by of ). - acutely or painfully sensitive:a tender bruise.
- easily distressed;
readily made uneasy:a tender conscience. - yielding readily to force or pressure;
easily broken;
fragile. - of a delicate or ticklish nature;
requiring careful or tactful handling:a tender subject. - Nautical, Naval Termscrank2 (def. 1).
v.t.
- to make tender.
- [Archaic.]to regard or treat tenderly.
- Latin tenerum, accusative of tener tender
- Old French
- Middle English, variant of tendre 1175–1225
ten′der•ness, n.
ten•der2 (ten′dər),USA pronunciation v.t.
- to present formally for acceptance;
make formal offer of:to tender one's resignation. - to offer or proffer.
- Lawto offer, as money or goods, in payment of a debt or other obligation, esp. in exact accordance with the terms of the law and of the obligation.
v.i.
- Economicsto make or submit a bid (often fol. by for).
n.
- the act of tendering;
an offer of something for acceptance. - something tendered or offered, esp. money, as in payment.
- Business[Com.]an offer made in writing by one party to another to execute certain work, supply certain commodities, etc., at a given cost;
bid. - Lawan offer, as of money or goods, in payment or satisfaction of a debt or other obligation.
- earlier tendre, noun, nominal use of Anglo-French tendre to extend, offer. See tend1 1535–45
- 1.See corresponding entry in Unabridged See offer.
- 5.See corresponding entry in Unabridged proposal, proffer.
tend•er3 (ten′dər),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who tends;
a person who attends to or takes charge of someone or something. - Nautical, Naval Termsan auxiliary ship employed to attend one or more other ships, as for supplying provisions.
- Nautical, Naval Termsa dinghy carried or towed by a yacht.
- Rail Transporta car attached to a steam locomotive for carrying fuel and water.
- 1425–75; late Middle English; origin, originally aphetic variant of attender; see tend2, -er1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
- (transitive)
to give, present, or offer: to tender one's resignation, tender a bid - (intransitive) followed by for:
to make a formal offer or estimate for (a job or contract) - (transitive)
to offer (money or goods) in settlement of a debt or claim
a small boat, such as a dinghy, towed or carried by a yacht or ship a vehicle drawn behind a steam locomotive to carry the fuel and water a person who tends
'tender' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Bibb lettuce
- Fitzgerald
- advance
- affectionate
- affettuoso
- amorous
- baby primrose
- barren
- bartender
- benign
- bid
- broiler
- browse
- cockboat
- coin of the realm
- comely
- compassionate
- con amore
- corn salad
- crank
- currency bond
- dainty
- delicate
- desire
- detent
- dinghy
- diving boat
- dove
- dry riser
- ed
- fairy primrose
- farthing
- fatherly
- feeling
- fiat money
- filet mignon
- flesh
- fleshy
- fond
- footsore
- fork-tender
- gangway
- gentle
- gig
- goaltender
- gracious
- greenback
- greenhouse
- hang
- hooktender