tender1
/ˈtɛndə
/adjective (tenderer, tenderest)
1Showing gentleness, kindness, and affection: he was being so kind and tender she covered his face with tender kisses...
- He took my hand and laid a gentle, tender kiss on it.
- His kisses were tender and gentle.
- His voice as tender and gentle as his kiss.
Synonyms
caring, kind, kindly, kind-hearted, soft-hearted, tender-hearted, compassionate, sympathetic, warm, warm-hearted, feeling, fatherly, motherly, maternal, gentle, mild, benevolent, generous, giving, humane;
susceptible, vulnerable
informal touchy-feely
affectionate, fond, loving, emotional, warm, gentle, soft;
amorous, adoring, amatory
informal lovey-dovey
romantic, sentimental, emotional, emotive, touching, moving, poignant, evocative
British informal soppy
1.1 (tender of) archaic Solicitous of: be tender of a lady’s reputation...
- I was obliged to lead him about, tender him, and help him.
2(Of a part of the body) sensitive to pain: the pale, tender skin of her forearm...
- She got up, raising her tender body onto her left elbow.
- A slight splinter can chafe the skin until it is tender and sore.
- She winced in pain as her sheets slid against her tender skin.
Synonyms
sore, painful, sensitive, inflamed, raw, red, chafed;
hurting, aching, throbbing, smarting, stinging, burning, irritated, bruised, wounded, injured
2.1(Of a plant) easily injured by severe weather and therefore needing protection: pelargoniums are colourful but tender plants...
- Protect tender plants after the ground freezes with a layer of loose mulch.
- Set out tender bedding plants such as petunias and marigolds after the last frost of spring.
- Slightly tender plants need as much wind protection as possible.
Synonyms
delicate, easily damaged, fragile, breakable, frail
2.2Requiring tact or careful handling: the issue of conscription was a particularly tender one...
- It was already a very tender and awkward situation.
Synonyms
difficult, delicate, tricky, awkward, problematic, troublesome, ticklish;
controversial, emotive
informal sticky
3(Of food) easy to cut or chew; not tough: tender green beans...
- The stew was filled with tender meat, beans, barley and carrots.
- There are fresh fruit juices and tender coconut.
- Her plate was heaped with several good, thick slices of tasty, tender pork.
Synonyms
easily chewed, not tough, chewable, soft, edible, eatable;
succulent, juicy, ripe;
tenderized
4Young, inexperienced, or vulnerable: he started sailing at the tender age of ten...
- This young man, at the tender age of 24 years, was the victim of a tragic accident.
- At the tender age of 25, she is quickly becoming an authority on urban fashion.
- The teen singer and actress has been in showbusiness since the tender age of nine.
Synonyms
young, youthful;
early;
impressionable, inexperienced, immature, unsophisticated, unseasoned, juvenile, callow, green, raw
informal wet behind the ears
5 Nautical (Of a ship) leaning or readily inclined to roll in response to the wind.I would expect the boat to be a bit on the tender side when the wind picks up....
- Initially the 35.5 is quite tender and quick to heel, so it is important not to overpower the boat with large headsails.
Phrases
tender mercies
Origin
Middle English: from Old French tendre, from Latin tener 'tender, delicate'.
In the senses ‘gentle and kind’ and ‘sensitive to pain or damage’, tender goes back to Latin tener ‘delicate’. It appears in a number of phrases relating to feeling for others. Tender loving care goes back to Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 3: ‘Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me / I thank them for their tender loving care.’ Its abbreviation TLC is comparatively modern, dating from the 1940s. The phrase tender mercies was probably originally a biblical allusion to a verse in the Book of Proverbs: ‘The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.’ The tender in ‘an invitation to tender’ is a different word that was originally a legal term meaning ‘to formally offer a plea, evidence or the money to discharge a debt’. It comes ultimately from Latin tendere ‘to stretch, hold out’, also the source of tend (Middle English), first found in the sense ‘move or be inclined to move in a certain direction’.
Rhymes
tender2
/ˈtɛndə/verb [with object]
1Offer or present (something) formally: he tendered his resignation as leader...
- He formally tendered his resignation to the president the following day.
- He formally tendered his resignation on reaching the age of 75.
- The four employees concerned had tendered their resignations.
Synonyms
offer, proffer, present, put forward, propose, suggest, advance, submit, set before someone, extend, give, render;
hand in
1.1Offer (money) as payment: she tendered her fare...
- A banker's draft had been tendered and refused.
- Many businesses around the town are sitting targets for tendering counterfeit Euro notes that are currently circulating in large quantities.
1.2 [no object] Make a formal written offer to carry out work, supply goods, or buy land, shares, or another asset for a stated fixed price: firms of interior decorators have been tendering for the work...
- The new policy sets out clear procedures for religious groups to follow in tendering for land designated for purposes of worshipping.
- We did prevent British companies from tendering for contracts and supplies.
- He is part of a consortium tendering for a licence in Scotland.
Synonyms
bid, put in a bid, quote, give an estimate, propose a price
1.3Formally offer (a stated fixed price) for carrying out work, supplying goods, etc. what price should we tender for a contract?...
- The Danish company tendered the lowest price.
- The company tendered a €58 million price three years ago, but inflation since then could increase the value of the project.
- The city entered into a partnership with the company, despite the fact that it tendered the lowest bid.
1.4 (tender something out) Seek offers to carry out work at a stated fixed price: I don’t even know why they tendered it out...
- The contract was tendered out and they won the deal against industry competition.
- These shop-fronts would be tendered out to the existing agencies.
- Smaller schemes will be tendered out directly to local companies.
noun
An offer to carry out work, supply goods, or buy land, shares, or another asset at a stated fixed price: we invited tenders for up to three more frigates [mass noun]: being government land, it was sold by tender [as modifier]: a minimum tender price...
- The tenders were evaluated on price, experience of the tenderer, methodology, quality and technical merit.
- The Department of Defence has invited tenders to supply the air force with six new military helicopters.
- The corporation sought tenders for the land.
Synonyms
bid, offer, quotation, quote, estimate, estimated price, price;
proposal, submission
Phrases
put something out to tender
Derivatives
tenderer
- It is not for us to demonstrate to competitive tenderers how much these things might cost.
- We are now asking tenderers to put forward schemes to give the maximum facilities for the money available.
- We need to make sure the tenderers have covered all the cost factors.
Origin
Mid 16th century (as a legal term meaning 'formally offer a plea or evidence, or money to discharge a debt', also as a noun denoting such an offer): from Old French tendre, from Latin tendere 'to stretch, hold forth' (see tend1).
tender3
/ˈtɛndə/noun
1 [with modifier] A vehicle used by a fire service for carrying specified supplies or equipment or fulfilling a specified role: three fire engines, including an emergency tender, attended the scene...
- The emergency tenders, which carry heavy-duty rescue equipment to incidents such as the Selby rail crash and serious road accidents, all need replacing.
- Myers said no chances were taken and the main road was blocked off and a fire service tender was ordered in front of the mall shortly before 11 am.
- There should also be ways to generate funds which will help the fire brigade acquire extra fire tenders and utility equipment that will enable them effectively fight fires.
1.1A vehicle used in mobile operations by a public service or the armed forces: he was struck several blows on the head and shoved into the police tender...
- Loyal Watcher, an ex-Royal Navy fleet tender with a range of more than 2500 miles, comfortably accommodates 12 heavily equipped divers.
2A dinghy or other boat used to ferry people and supplies to and from a ship.You can tie up your own tender at the dinghy docks or go ashore in one of the harbor launches....
- Some served as motor torpedo boat tenders, battle damage repair ships or aircraft engine repair ships.
- Re-crewed and supplied by ocean-going tenders, the ships could pursue fish anywhere in the world for months on end without ever visiting a port or even sighting land.
3A trailing vehicle closely coupled to a steam locomotive to carry fuel and water.On this particular day, my fireman and I had old #19 steamed up, oiled, greased, with a full tender of water and fuel....
- These near-indestructable Hi-Riser cars were rebuilt in the 1960's from steam locomotive tenders.
- Two tenders behind are spare water cars for work train service.
4 [usually in combination or with modifier] A person who looks after someone else or a machine or place: Alexei signalled to one of the engine tenders...
- Seven minutes later, I heard another bridge tender tell the engineer that our rear lights looked fine, but that we had a door open in the baggage car.
- The tender on the bridge called our train on the radio to report that one of the doors in the baggage car on the rear of the train was open.
- All good dives finally come to an end and he surfaces, hooks in hand, beside the branch boat, inflates his BC, slips out of his gear and carefully hands in the hooks to a boat tender.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'attendant, nurse'): from tend2 or shortening of attender (see attend).