The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Tend"er\, n. [From Tend to attend. Cf. Attender.]
   1. One who tends; one who takes care of any person or thing;
      a nurse.
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   2. (Naut.) A vessel employed to attend other vessels, to
      supply them with provisions and other stores, to convey
      intelligence, or the like.
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   3. A car attached to a locomotive, for carrying a supply of
      fuel and water.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Ten"der\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tendered; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Tendering.] [F. tendre to stretch, stretch out, reach,
   L. tendere. See Tend to move.]
   1. (Law) To offer in payment or satisfaction of a demand, in
      order to save a penalty or forfeiture; as, to tender the
      amount of rent or debt.
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   2. To offer in words; to present for acceptance.
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            You see how all conditions, how all minds, . . .
            tender down
            Their services to Lord Timon.         --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Ten"der\, n.
   1. (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; as, the tender of rent due, or of the
      amount of a note, with interest.
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   Note: To constitute a legal tender, such money must be
         offered as the law prescribes. So also the tender must
         be at the time and place where the rent or debt ought
         to be paid, and it must be to the full amount due.
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   2. Any offer or proposal made for acceptance; as, a tender of
      a loan, of service, or of friendship; a tender of a bid
      for a contract.
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            A free, unlimited tender of the gospel. --South.
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   3. The thing offered; especially, money offered in payment of
      an obligation. --Shak.
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   Legal tender. See under Legal.

   Tender of issue (Law), a form of words in a pleading, by
      which a party offers to refer the question raised upon it
      to the appropriate mode of decision. --Burrill.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Ten"der\, a. [Compar. Tenderer; superl. Tenderest.]
   [F. tendre, L. tener; probably akin to tenuis thin. See
   Thin.]
   1. Easily impressed, broken, bruised, or injured; not firm or
      hard; delicate; as, tender plants; tender flesh; tender
      fruit.
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   2. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.
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            Our bodies are not naturally more tender than our
            faces.                                --L'Estrange.
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   3. Physically weak; not hardly or able to endure hardship;
      immature; effeminate.
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            The tender and delicate woman among you. --Deut.
                                                  xxviii. 56.
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   4. Susceptible of the softer passions, as love, compassion,
      kindness; compassionate; pitiful; anxious for another's
      good; easily excited to pity, forgiveness, or favor;
      sympathetic.
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            The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.
                                                  --James v. 11.
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            I am choleric by my nature, and tender by my temper.
                                                  --Fuller.
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   5. Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.
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            I love Valentine,
            Whose life's as tender to me as my soul! --Shak.
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   6. Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure; -- with of.
      "Tender of property." --Burke.
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            The civil authority should be tender of the honor of
            God and religion.                     --Tillotson.
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   7. Unwilling to cause pain; gentle; mild.
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            You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies,
            Will never do him good.               --Shak.
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   8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the
      softer passions; pathetic; as, tender expressions; tender
      expostulations; a tender strain.
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   9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate; as, a
      tender subject. "Things that are tender and unpleasing."
      --Bacon.
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   10. (Naut.) Heeling over too easily when under sail; -- said
       of a vessel.
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   Note: Tender is sometimes used in the formation of
         self-explaining compounds; as, tender-footed,
         tender-looking, tender-minded, tender-mouthed, and the
         like.
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   Syn: Delicate; effeminate; soft; sensitive; compassionate;
        kind; humane; merciful; pitiful.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Ten"der\, n. [Cf. F. tendre.]
   Regard; care; kind concern. [Obs.] --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Tender \Ten"der\, v. t.
   To have a care of; to be tender toward; hence, to regard; to
   esteem; to value. [Obs.]
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         For first, next after life, he tendered her good.
                                                  --Spenser.
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         Tender yourself more dearly.             --Shak.
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         To see a prince in want would move a miser's charity.
         Our western princes tendered his case, which they
         counted might be their own.              --Fuller.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

tender
    adj 1: given to sympathy or gentleness or sentimentality; "a
           tender heart"; "a tender smile"; "tender loving care";
           "tender memories"; "a tender mother" [ant: tough]
    2: hurting; "the tender spot on his jaw" [syn: sensitive,
       sore, raw, tender]
    3: young and immature; "at a tender age"
    4: having or displaying warmth or affection; "affectionate
       children"; "a fond embrace"; "fond of his nephew"; "a tender
       glance"; "a warm embrace" [syn: affectionate, fond,
       lovesome, tender, warm]
    5: easy to cut or chew; "tender beef" [ant: tough]
    6: physically untoughened; "tender feet" [syn: tender,
       untoughened] [ant: tough, toughened]
    7: (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail [syn:
       crank, cranky, tender, tippy]
    8: (of plants) not hardy; easily killed by adverse growing
       condition; "tender green shoots"
    n 1: something that can be used as an official medium of payment
         [syn: tender, legal tender, stamp]
    2: someone who waits on or tends to or attends to the needs of
       another [syn: attendant, attender, tender]
    3: a formal proposal to buy at a specified price [syn: bid,
       tender]
    4: car attached to a locomotive to carry fuel and water
    5: a boat for communication between ship and shore [syn:
       tender, ship's boat, pinnace, cutter]
    6: ship that usually provides supplies to other ships [syn:
       tender, supply ship]
    v 1: offer or present for acceptance
    2: propose a payment; "The Swiss dealer offered $2 million for
       the painting" [syn: offer, bid, tender]
    3: make a tender of; in legal settlements
    4: make tender or more tender as by marinating, pounding, or
       applying a tenderizer; "tenderize meat" [syn: tender,
       tenderize, tenderise]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

407 Moby Thesaurus words for "tender":
   Christian, Christlike, Christly, Ganymede, Hebe, Pullman,
   Pullman car, accepting, accord, aching, administer, adoring,
   advance, affectionate, afford, agonizing, ailing, airline hostess,
   airline stewardess, algetic, allergic, allot, allow, amatory,
   amorous, anaphylactic, angry, attendant, attentive, award,
   baggage car, batman, bellboy, bellhop, bellman, benevolent, benign,
   benignant, bestow, bestow on, bid, bills, bleeding, boat, bold,
   bootblack, boots, boxcar, brotherly, budding, burning, cabin boy,
   caboose, caddie, callow, car, careful, caring, carriage, cash,
   cautious, chafed, chair car, charitable, chewable, chore boy,
   circumspect, clement, coach, coal car, commiserative, communicate,
   compassionate, compensate, compensation, complaisant, condolent,
   confer, conjugal, considerate, copyboy, covered waggon, creamy,
   cupbearer, curious, currency, dainty, dangerous, day coach, deal,
   deal out, decent, delicate, demonstrative, devoted, dewy,
   difficult, diner, dinghy, dining car, dish out, dispense, dole,
   dole out, donate, drawing room, easy, easygoing, eatable, edible,
   eggshell, emotionable, emotional, empathetic, empathic, errand boy,
   errand girl, extend, faithful, fee, feeble, feeling, festering,
   fiery, filial, fit for sea, flat, flatcar, fond, footboy,
   forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, fork out, fragile, frail,
   fraternal, galled, gentle, gift, gift with, gig, give, give freely,
   give out, gloss, gofer, gondola, good, good-natured, goosy,
   gracious, grant, green, growing, guerdon, hand out, heap,
   heartfelt, heedful, help to, hold forth, hold out, hostess, human,
   humane, hurting, husbandly, hyperesthetic, hyperpathic,
   hypersensitive, immature, impart, impassioned, impressionable,
   impubic, indemnify, inexperienced, infirm, inflamed, ingenuous,
   innocent, intact, iridescent, irritable, irritated, issue, itchy,
   juicy, juvenile, kind, kindhearted, kindly, kindly-disposed,
   languishing, launch, lavish, lax, lenient, let have, light, local,
   lovelorn, lovesick, lovesome, loving, luggage van, mail car,
   mail van, maternal, maudlin, mawkish, mellow, mellowy, melting,
   merciful, mete, mete out, mild, mindful, minor, moderate,
   mollified, money, mother-of-pearl, moving, nacreous, naive,
   nervous, new, new-fledged, nice, nonresistive, nonrigid, offer,
   office boy, office girl, opalescent, orderly, overrefined,
   oversensible, oversensitive, overtender, page, painful, palace car,
   pale, parental, parlor car, passenger car, passible, passionate,
   pastel, paternal, patient, patinaed, pay, pay by installments,
   pay on, payment, pearly, pitying, poignant, pose, pour, prefer,
   prepay, present, presentation, prickly, proffer, proposal, propose,
   proposition, provocative, purpose, put forward, put up, quiet,
   railway car, rain, rankling, raw, receptive, recompense, red,
   reefer, refined, refrigerator car, regardful, remit, remunerate,
   render, responsive, reward, ripening, romantic, roomette, ruthful,
   sad, salary, sappy, satisfy, sea-kindly, seaworthy, semigloss,
   sensible, sensitive, sentimental, serve, set before, shaky,
   shell out, shower, sickly, simple, skiff, skittish, sleeper, slip,
   smarting, smoker, smoking car, snow, snug, sober, soft,
   soft as putty, soft-colored, soft-hued, softened, softhearted,
   solicitous, somber, soothing, sore, soul-stirring, specie, squire,
   steward, stewardess, stiff, stirring, stockcar, subdued, submit,
   subtle, suggest, supersensitive, susceptible, sweet, sympathetic,
   sympathizing, tactful, tank, tenderhearted, tetchy, thin-skinned,
   thoughtful, ticklish, tingling, tolerant, touching, touchy,
   trainbearer, tricky, troublesome, truck, unadult, underage,
   understanding, undeveloped, unfledged, unformed, uninitiated,
   unlicked, unmellowed, unripe, unseasoned, unsound, unstable,
   untrained, unwell, usher, uxorious, van, vehicle, vernal, virginal,
   vouchsafe, vulnerable, waggon, wagon, warm, warm-hearted,
   warmhearted, waterproof, watertight, weak, weatherly, whisper-soft,
   wifely, yeoman, yield, yielding, young, youthful



Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

TENDER, contracts, pleadings. A tender is an offer to do or perform an act
which the party offering, is bound to perform to the party to whom the offer
is made.
     2. A tender may be of money or of specific articles; these will be
separately considered. Sec. 1. Of the lender of money. To make la valid
tender the following requisites are necessary: 1. It must be made by a
person capable of paying: for if it be made by a stranger without the
consent of the debtor, it will be insufficient. Cro. Eliz. 48, 132; 2 M. &
S. 86; Co. Lit. 206.
     3.-2. It must be made to the creditor having capacity to receive it, or
to his authorized agent. 1 Camp. 477; Dougl. 632; 5 Taunt. 307; S. C. 1
Marsh. 55; 6 Esp. 95; 3 T. R. 683; 14 Serg. & Rawle, 307; 1 Nev. & M. 398;
S. C. 28 E. C. L. R. 324; 4 B. & C. 29 S. C. 10 E. C. L. R. 272; 3 C. & P.
453 S. C. 14 E. C. L. R. 386; 1 M. & W. 310; M. & M. 238; 1 Esp. R. 349 1 C.
& P. 365
     4.-3. The whole sum due must be offered, in the lawful coin of the
United States, or foreign coin made current by law; 2 N. & M. 519; and the
offer must be unqualified by any circumstance whatever. 2 T. R. 305; 1
Campb. 131; 3 Campb. 70; 6 Taunt. 336; 3 Esp. C. 91; Stark. Ev. pt. 4, page
1392, n. g; 4 Campb. 156; 2 Campb. 21; 1 M. & W. 310. But a tender in bank
notes, if not objected to on that account, will be good. 3 T. R. 554; 2 B. &
P. 526; 1 Leigh's N. P. c. 1, S. 20; 9 Pick. 539; see 2 Caines, 116; 13
Mass. 235; 4 N. H. Rep. 296; 10 Wheat 333. But in such case, the amount
tendered must be what is due exactly, for a tender of a five dollar note,
demanding change, would not be a good tender of four dollars. 3 Campb. R.
70; 6 Taunt. R. 336; 2 Esp. R. 710; 2 D. & R. 305; S. C. 16 E. C. L. R. 87.
And a tender was held good when made by a check contained in a letter,
requesting a receipt in return which the plaintiff sent back demanding a
larger sum, without objecting to the nature of the tender. 8 D. P. C. 442.
When stock is to be tendered, everything must be done by the debtor to
enable him to transfer it, but it is not absolutely requisite that it should
be transferred. Str. 504, 533, 579.
     5.-4. If a term had been stipulated in favor of a creditor, it must be
expired; the offer should be made at the time agreed upon for the
performance of the contract if made afterwards, it only goes in mitigation
of damages, provided it be made before suit brought. 7 Taunt. 487; 8 East,
R. 168; 5 Taunt. 240; 1 Saund. 33 a, note 2. The tender ought to be made
before daylight is entirely gone. 7 Greenl. 31.
     6.-5. The condition on which the debt was contracted must be fulfilled.
     7.-6. The tender must be made at the place agreed upon for the payment,
or, if there be no place appointed for that purpose, then to the creditor or
his authorized agent. 8 John. 474; Lit. Sel. Cas. 132; Bac. Ab. h.t. c.
     8. When a tender has been properly made, it is a complete defence to
the action but the benefit of a tender is lost, if the creditor afterwards
demand the thing due from the debtor, and the latter refuse to pay it.
Kirby, 293.
     9.-Sec. 2. Of the tender of specific articles. It is a rule that
specific articles maybe tendered at some particular place, and not, like
money, to the person of the creditor wherever found. When no place is
expressly mentioned in the contract, the place of delivery is to be
ascertained by the intent of the parties, to be collected from the nature of
the case and its circumstances. If, for example, the contract is for
delivery of goods from the seller to the buyer on demand, the former being
the manufacturer of the goods or a dealer in them, no place being
particularly named, the manufactory or store of the seller will be
considered as the place intended, and a tender there will be sufficient.
When the specific articles are at another place at the time of sale, that
will be the place of delivery. 2 Greenl. Ev. Sec. 609 4 Wend. 377; 2 Applet.
325.
     10. When the goods are cumbrous, and the place of delivery is not
designated, nor to be inferred from the circumstances, it is presumed that
it was intended that they should be delivered at any place which the
creditor might reasonably appoint; if the creditor refuses, or names an
unreasonable place, the debtor may select a proper place, and having given
notice to the creditor, deliver the goods there. 2 Kent, Comm. 507; 1
Greenl. 120; Chip. on Contr. 51 13 Wend. 95; 2 Greenl. Ev. Sec. 610. Vide,
generally, 20 Vin., Ab. 177; Bac. Ab. h.t.; 1 Sell. 314; Com. Dig. Action
upon the case upon Assumpsit, H 8 Condition, L 4 Pleader, 2 G 2-2 W, 28,49-3
K 23-3 M 36; Chipm, on Contr. 31, 74; Ayl. Pand. B. 4, t. 29; 7 Greenl. 31
Bouv. Inst. Index, h.t.