tender

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Easily crushed or bruised; fragile: a tender petal.
2. adj. Easily chewed or cut: tender beef.
3. adj. Young and vulnerable: of tender age.
4. adj. Frail; delicate.
5. adj. Sensitive to frost or severe cold; not hardy: tender green shoots.
6. adj. Easily hurt; sensitive: tender skin.
7. adj. Painful; sore: a tender tooth.
8. adj. Considerate and protective; solicitous: a tender mother; his tender concern.
9. adj. Characterized by or expressing gentle emotions; loving: a tender glance; a tender ballad.
10. adj. Given to sympathy or sentimentality; soft: a tender heart.
11. adj. Nautical Likely to heel easily under sail; crank.
12. v. To make tender.
13. v. Archaic To treat with tender regard.
14. n. A formal offer, as:
15. n. Law An offer of money or service in payment of an obligation.
16. n. A written offer to contract goods or services at a specified cost or rate; a bid.
17. n. Something, especially money, offered in payment.
18. v. To offer formally: tender a letter of resignation. See Synonyms at offer.
19. n. One who tends something: a lathe tender.
20. n. Nautical A vessel attendant on other vessels, especially one that ferries supplies between ship and shore.
21. n. A railroad car attached to the rear of a locomotive and designed to carry fuel and water.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Thin; slender; attenuated; fine: literally or figuratively.
2. Of fine or delicate quality; delicate; fine; soft: as, a tender glow of color.
3. Soft; thin; watery.
4. Delicate to the touch, or yielding readily to the action of a cutting instrument or to a blow; not tough or hard; especially, soft and easily masticated: as, tender meat.
5. Soft; impressible; susceptible; sensitive; compassionate; easily touched, affected, or influenced: as, a tender heart.
6. Expressing sensitive feeling; expressing the gentle emotions, as love or pity, especially the former; kindly; loving; affectionate; fond.
7. Delicate in constitution, consistency, texture, etc.; fragile; easily injured, broken, or bruised.
8. Delicate as regards health; weakly.
9. Very sensitive to impression; very susceptible of any sensation or emotion; easily pained.
10. Not strong; not hardy; not able to endure hardship or rough treatment; delicate; weak.
11. Fresh; immature; feeble; young and inexperienced.
12. Precious; dear.
13. Careful; solicitous; considerate; watchful; concerned; unwilling to pain or injure; scrupulous: with of or over.
14. Delicate; ticklish; apt to give pain if inconsiderately or roughly dealt with or referred to; requiring careful handling so as not to annoy or give pain: as, a tender subject.
15. Quick; keen; sharp.
16. Of ships, apt to lean over under sail; tender-sided: same as crank, 1.
17. Yielding to a small force; sensitive.
18. n. A tender regard; fondness; affection; regard.
19. To regard or treat with compassion, solicitude, fondness, or care; cherish; hence, to hold dear; value; esteem.
20. To make tender, in any sense.
21. To offer; make offer of; present for acceptance: as, to tender one a complimentary dinner; to tender one's resignation.
22. To offer in payment or satisfaction of some demand or obligation: as, to tender the (exact) amount of rent due.
23. To show; present to view.
24. To make a tender or offer; especially, to offer to supply certain commodities for a certain period at rates and under conditions specified, or to execute certain work: as, to tender for the dredging of a harbor.
25. n. An offer for acceptance.
26. n. Specifically In law, an offer of money or any other thing in satisfaction of a debt or liability; especially, the production and offer to pay or deliver the very thing requirable by a contract.
27. n. An offer in writing made by one party to another to execute some specified work or to supply certain specified articles at a certain sum or rate, or to purchase something at a specified price.
28. n. Something tendered or offered.
29. n. One who tends; one who attends to, supervises, or takes care of something; a nurse: as, a machine-tender; a bartender.
30. n. Nautical, a vessel employed to attend a larger one for supplying her with provisions and other stores, or to convey intelligence, orders, etc.
31. n. A boat or ship accompanying fishing- or whaling-vessels; a lighter. Specifically— In the menhaden-fishery, a vessel or boat employed to carry the fish to the factories. These tenders have an average capacity of 250 barrels, though they are now often built of a larger size, some carrying 600 barrels.
32. n. In railroading, a carriage attached to the locomotive, for carrying the fuel, water, etc. See cuts under passenger-engine and snow-plow.
33. n. A small reservoir attached to a mop or scrubber, to hold a supply of water. The flow is controlled by a valve operated by a spring.

Wiktionary

1. adj. Sensitive or painful to be touched.
2. adj. of food Soft and easily chewed.
3. adj. Fond, loving, gentle, sweet
4. v. To make tender or delicate; to weaken.
5. v. To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly.
6. n. obsolete Someone who tends or waits on someone.
7. n. A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
8. n. nautical A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.
9. n. nautical A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.
10. v. formal To offer, to give.
11. v. To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions.
12. n. A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.
13. n. law A formal offer to buy or sell something.
14. n. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who tends; one who takes care of any person or thing; a nurse.
2. n. (Naut.) A vessel employed to attend other vessels, to supply them with provisions and other stores, to convey intelligence, or the like.
3. n. A car attached to a locomotive, for carrying a supply of fuel and water.
4. v. (Law) To offer in payment or satisfaction of a demand, in order to save a penalty or forfeiture.
5. v. To offer in words; to present for acceptance.
6. n. (Law) An offer, either of money to pay a debt, or of service to be performed, in order to save a penalty or forfeiture, which would be incurred by nonpayment or nonperformance.
7. n. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance
8. n. The thing offered; especially, money offered in payment of an obligation.
9. adj. Easily impressed, broken, bruised, or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.
10. adj. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
11. adj. Physically weak; not hardly or able to endure hardship; immature; effeminate.
12. adj. Susceptible of the softer passions, as love, compassion, kindness; compassionate; pitiful; anxious for another's good; easily excited to pity, forgiveness, or favor; sympathetic.
13. adj. Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
14. adj. Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure; -- with of.
15. adj. Unwilling to cause pain; gentle; mild.
16. adj. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.
17. adj. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.
18. adj. (Naut.) Heeling over too easily when under sail; -- said of a vessel.
19. n. obsolete Regard; care; kind concern.
20. v. obsolete To have a care of; to be tender toward; hence, to regard; to esteem; to value.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. propose a payment
2. adj. easy to cut or chew
3. adj. (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
4. n. car attached to a locomotive to carry fuel and water
5. adj. having or displaying warmth or affection
6. v. offer or present for acceptance
7. n. a formal proposal to buy at a specified price
8. adj. physically untoughened
9. v. make tender or more tender as by marinating, pounding, or applying a tenderizer
10. v. make a tender of; in legal settlements
11. adj. young and immature
12. n. ship that usually provides supplies to other ships
13. n. someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another
14. adj. hurting.
15. adj. (of plants) not hardy; easily killed by adverse growing condition
16. n. something that can be used as an official medium of payment
17. n. a boat for communication between ship and shore
18. adj. given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality