What does "tender" mean?
Care, kind concern, regard.
Tender
/ˈtɛn.dɚ/ adj, adv, noun, verb
adj, adv, noun, verb ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Care, kind concern, regard.
- Grammar: tender is listed as adj, adv, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: bid, offer, accepting, accord.
- Useful contrasts: callous, chewier, chewiest.
- Usage evidence: This beef is very nice and tender.
How to use "tender"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tender" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tender" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tender" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tender" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tender" is acting as adj, adv, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "bid" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tender", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Care, kind concern, regard. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Stay, and breath awhile. Thou haſt redeem'd thy loſt opinion And ſhew'd thou makeſt ſome tender of my life In this faire reſcue thou haſt brought to mee."
- 2 Someone who tends or waits on something or someone.
- 3 Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply.
"You offer me the sword of my father, the very man whose bones, because of your perfidy, lie under the sod of Crecy. Aye, I'll surely take it, and just as surely you shall die with your tender through your heart!"
- 4 ship that usually provides supplies to other ships wordnet
- 5 The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry. countable, uncountable
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.
"Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping."
- 7 A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card.
"Your credit card has been declined so you need to provide some other tender such as cash."
- 8 a boat for communication between ship and shore wordnet
- 9 A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.
"submarine tender"
- 10 A formal offer to buy or sell something.
"We will submit our tender to you within the week."
- 11 car attached to a locomotive to carry fuel and water wordnet
- 12 A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.
"The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m."
- 13 Any offer or proposal made for acceptance.
"[...] if she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it; for the man,—as you know all,—hath a contemptible spirit."
- 14 a formal proposal to buy at a specified price wordnet
- 15 A member of a diving team who assists a diver during a dive but does not themselves go underwater.
"Now, with scallop populations under pressure, Mr. Sewell is one of only about 30 active scallop divers left in his state. He and his tender, Jason Simmons, have harvested scallops together each winter and early spring for the past seven years. The rest of the year he catches bluefin tuna and dives for sea urchins."
- 16 someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of another wordnet
- 17 Ellipsis of water tender (“firefighting apparatus”). abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis
- 18 something that can be used as an official medium of payment wordnet
Verb
- 1 To make tender or delicate; to weaken. archaic
"To such as are wealthy, live plenteously, at ease, […] these viands are to be forborne, if they be inclined to, or suspect melancholy, as they tender their healths […]."
- 2 To work on a tender.
"Meantime, I'll dig up what I can, but if they start fishing again, I start tendering."
- 3 To offer, to give. formal
"to tender one’s resignation"
- 4 make tender or more tender as by marinating, pounding, or applying a tenderizer wordnet
- 5 To feel tenderly towards; to regard fondly or with consideration. archaic
"The angrie king hath banished me the court: And therefore as thou louest and tendrest me, Be thou my aduocate vnto these peeres."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 To offer a payment, as at sales or auctions; to bid.
- 7 make a tender of; in legal settlements wordnet
- 8 offer or present for acceptance wordnet
- 9 propose a payment wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Sensitive or painful to the touch.
"[…]poore Lord, is't I That chaſe thee from thy Countrie, and expoſe Thoſe tender limbes of thine[…]"
- 2 Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate.
"tender plants"
- 3 Physically weak; not able to endure hardship.
"the tender and delicate woman among you"
- 4 Soft and easily chewed.
"The Matrix is telling my brain this steak is tender, succulent, and juicy."
- 5 Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
"Our Bodies are not naturally more Tender than our Faces."
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- 6 Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet.
"Suzanne was such a tender mother to her children."
- 7 Young and inexperienced.
"I first had a girlfriend at the tender age of seven."
- 8 Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic.
"tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain"
- 9 Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate.
"a tender subject"
- 10 Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.
- 11 Exciting kind concern; dear; precious. obsolete
"I love Valentine, Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!"
- 12 Careful to keep inviolate, or not to injure; used with of. obsolete
"tender of property"
Adjective
- 1 (of plants) not hardy; easily killed by adverse growing condition wordnet
- 2 having or displaying warmth or affection wordnet
- 3 young and immature wordnet
- 4 hurting wordnet
- 5 (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail wordnet
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 easy to cut or chew wordnet
- 7 physically untoughened wordnet
- 8 given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality wordnet
Adverb
- 1 tenderly
"Love me tender, love me sweet Never let me go"
Example
"This beef is very nice and tender."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tender"?
Common synonyms include: bid, offer, accepting, accord, aching, achy.
How do you use "tender" in a sentence?
This beef is very nice and tender.
How do you pronounce "tender"?
Pronounced /ˈtɛn.dɚ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English tender, tendur, tendir, tendre, from the adjective (see above).
Etymology 3
From Middle English tendren, from the adjective (see above).
Etymology 4
From tend + -er. Compare attender (“one who attends”).
Etymology 5
From Middle English tendren, from Old French tendre (“stretch out”).