tender

1 of 7

adjective

ten·​der ˈten-dər 

1

: marked by, responding to, or expressing the softer emotions : fond, loving

a tender lover

2

a

: showing care : considerate, solicitous

tender regard

b

: highly susceptible to impressions or emotions : impressionable

a tender conscience

3

a

: easily chewed : succulent

b

: having a soft or yielding texture : easily broken, cut, or damaged : delicate, fragile

tender feet

4

a

: sensitive to touch or palpation

the bruise was still tender

b

: sensitive to injury or insult : touchy

tender pride

c

: demanding careful and sensitive handling : ticklish

a tender situation

d

of a boat : easily tipped by an external force

5

a

: physically weak : not able to endure hardship

b

: immature, young

children of tender age

c

: incapable of resisting cold : not hardy

tender perennials

6

a

: appropriate or conducive to a delicate or sensitive constitution or character : gentle, mild

tender breeding

tender irony

b

: delicate or soft in quality or tone

never before heard the piano sound so tender

—Elva S. Daniels

7

obsolete : dear, precious

tenderly adverb

tender

2 of 7

verb (1)

tendered; tendering ˈten-d(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to present for acceptance : offer

tendered my resignation

2

: to make a tender of

intransitive verb

: to make a bid or tender

tender

3 of 7

noun (1)

often attributive

1

: an unconditional offer of money or service in satisfaction of a debt or obligation made to save a penalty or forfeiture for nonpayment or nonperformance

2

: an offer or proposal made for acceptance: such as

a

: an offer of a bid for a contract

b

: tender offer

3

: something that may be offered in payment

specifically : money

tender

4 of 7

noun (2)

: an often breaded strip of usually breast meat

chicken tenders

also : the tenderloin of a chicken

tender

5 of 7

noun (3)

tend·​er ˈten-dər 

: one that tends: such as

a(1)

: a ship employed to attend other ships (as to supply provisions)

(2)

: a boat for communication or transportation between shore and a larger ship

(3)

: a warship that provides logistic support

b

: a car attached to a steam locomotive for carrying a supply of fuel and water

tender

6 of 7

verb (2)

tendered; tendering ˈten-d(ə-)riŋ 

transitive verb

1

: to make tender : soften, weaken

2

archaic : to regard or treat with tenderness

intransitive verb

: to become tender

tender

7 of 7

noun (4)

obsolete

: consideration, regard

Synonyms

Adjective

• delicate
• fragile
• frail
• sensitive

Verb (1)

• extend
• give
• offer
• proffer
• trot out

Noun (1)

• bread [slang]
• bucks
• cabbage [slang]
• cash
• change
• chips
• coin
• currency
• dough
• gold
• green
• jack [slang]
• kale [slang]
• legal tender
• lolly [British]
• long green [slang]
• loot
• lucre
• money
• moola [slang]
• moolah
• needful
• pelf
• scratch [slang]
• shekels
• sheqels
• shekelim
• shekalim
• sheqalim
• wampum

Examples of tender in a Sentence

Adjective

He gave her a tender look.

She was tender and loving with her new child.

Cook the pasta until it is just tender.

Her wrist was swollen and tender.

Verb (1)

the coach tendered his resignation and started a new career as a physical therapist

Noun (1)

money from that board game is not legal tender and can't be exchanged for goods or services

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Lastly, slice against the grain of the meat to help make each piece more tender and easier to chew. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 22 June 2025

And one of his most tender performances comes in this underrated drama from Penny Marshall. —Travis Bean, Forbes.com, 21 June 2025

Noun

The firefighting efforts involve 21 engines, eight water tenders, three helicopters, three dozers and two hand crews. —Ca Wildfire Bot, Sacbee.com, 25 June 2025

Bo's Bird Dogs are actually chicken tenders dressed up like a dog, giving it a unique Carolina twist. —Melissa Locker, Southern Living, 24 June 2025

Verb

Neem oil should not be used on seedlings or tender new growth. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 28 May 2025

The calamari proved excellent: crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, served with a lemon aioli. —Laura Ness, Mercury News, 25 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English tendre, tender, borrowed from Anglo-French tendre, going back to Latin tener "soft, delicate (of persons or parts of the body), immature, yielding easily, sensitive," probably by metathesis from *terenos or *terunos, going back to Indo-European, whence also Greek térēn "soft, tender," Sanskrit taruṇa- "young, tender, fresh," Avestan tauruna- "young," (as noun) "boy"

Note: Macrobius (early 5th century), in his Saturnalia, quotes Favorinus (ca. 80-160 a.d.) as claiming that terenus meant mollis ("soft") in Sabine; this form would support the hypothesis of metathesis in Latin tener. Ernout and Meillet (Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine, 4th edition, Paris, 1979) reject this etymology without comment, citing instead a possible connection with the ten- of tenēre, tendere, tenuis (see tenant entry 1, tender entry 3, thin entry 1).

Verb (1)

Middle English tendren, probably in part derivative of tendur tender entry 3, in part borrowed from its source, Anglo-French tendre

Note: The apparent use of the Anglo-French nominalized infinitive as an inflected verb in Middle English is paralleled by render entry 2. Cf. tend entry 1, a more regular borrowing of the stem of the same verb, in a different sense.

Noun (1)

Middle English tendur "grant of a license," borrowed from Anglo-French tendre "offer, offer in satisfaction of a debt," noun derivative from infinitive of tendre "to stretch, hold out, offer (a suit, plea, money), grant," going back to Latin tendere "to extend outward, stretch, spread out, direct (one's course), aim (at a purpose)," going back to Indo-European *ten- "stretch, extend" + *-d- (or *-dh-), suffixal extension of uncertain origin — more at tenant entry 1

Note: See note at tenant entry 1. The original past participle of tendere is tentus, which would appear to continue an Indo-European verbal adjective *tn̥-tos, whence also Greek tatós, derived directly from the base *ten- rather than from *tend-. The form tentus was largely replaced by tensus, presumably from *tend-tos, a regular derivative of the new formation tend-.

Noun (2)

probably short for tenderloin

Noun (3)

tend entry 2 + -er entry 2

Verb (2)

Middle English tendren "to become tender, care for, be concerned about," derivative of tender, tendre tender entry 1

Noun (4)

probably noun derivative of tender entry 1 or of tender entry 6 in sense "to be solicitous of"

First Known Use

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3b

Verb (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Noun (1)

circa 1543, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1955, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1675, in the meaning defined above

Verb (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun (4)

1598, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tender

• at the tender age
• fork-tender
• legal tender
• tender loving care
• tender-minded
• tender offer
• tender (young) age
• to the (tender) mercies of

Rhymes for tender

• bender
• blender
• fender
• gender
• lender
• mender
• prendre
• render
• sender
• slender
• splendor
• vender

Kids Definition

tender

1 of 5 adjective

ten·​der ˈten-dər 

1

: having a soft or yielding quality

tender steak

2

a

: physically weak : delicate

a tender plant

b

: immature, young

children of tender years

3

: loving, affectionate

a tender look

4

: showing care : considerate

5

: not harsh or stern : gentle, mild

tender irony

6

: sensitive to touch : very easily hurt

a tender bruise

7

: demanding careful and sensitive handling

a tender subject

tenderly adverb

tenderness noun

tender

2 of 5 verb

tendered; tendering

-d(ə-)riŋ

1

: to offer in payment

2

: to present for acceptance

tendered my resignation

tender

3 of 5 noun

1

: an offer of money in payment of a debt

2

: an offer made for acceptance

especially : a bid for a contract

3

: something that may by law be offered in payment

especially : money

tender

4 of 5 noun

tend·​er

ˈten-dər

: one that tends or takes care: as

a

: a ship used to attend other ships (as to supply food)

b

: a boat that carries passengers or freight between shore and a larger ship

c

: a car attached to a locomotive for carrying fuel and water

tender

5 of 5 noun

: an often breaded strip of usually breast meat

chicken tenders

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English tender "tender, fragile," from early French tendre (same meaning), from Latin tener "having a soft yielding texture, tender, young"

Verb

Middle English tendren "to offer in payment," from early French tendre "to stretch out, offer," from Latin tendere "to stretch" — related to tense entry 2

Noun

from tend "to look after" and -er, noun suffix

Noun

probably short for tenderloin

Medical Definition

tender

adjective

ten·​der ˈten-dər 

: sensitive to touch or palpation

tender skin

a tender palpable kidney

tenderness

-nəs 

noun

Legal Definition

tender

1 of 2 noun

ten·​der

1

a

: an act or instance of tendering

b

: an unconditional offer of payment or performance (as in discharge of an obligation) that is coupled with a manifestation of willingness and ability to follow through (as by producing a check)

c

: tender of delivery

sufficient tender

2

: something offered in payment or performance

specifically : money

the proper amount of tender required

see also legal tender

tender

2 of 2 verb

transitive verb

1

a

: to make a tender of

tender goods

tender delivery

tender payment

tender performance

b

: to offer as an amount in settlement of a claim by an injured party against an insured

Note: An insurance company might be obligated to tender the limits of a policy to an injured party when a higher amount is likely to be awarded at trial.

2

: to extend for acceptance or consideration (as in proof of something) especially in a proceeding

tender a plea to the court

tender an issue

3

: to offer for sale

tender shares

intransitive verb

: to offer securities for sale

make an informed decision to tender

Etymology

Verb

Anglo-French tendre to offer, propose for acceptance, literally, to stretch, hold out, from Old French, from Latin tendere