- 1more tender and most tender are also common kind, gentle, and loving tender words What he needs now is a lot of tender loving care (= sympathetic treatment).
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- 2(of food) easy to bite through and cut This meat is extremely tender. Boil the beans until they are tender. opposite tough
- 3(of part of the body) painful when you touch it synonym sore My leg is still very tender where I banged it.
- 4easily hurt or damaged synonym delicate tender young plants
adverb
noun [uncountable]Idioms
used in connection with someone who is still young and does not have much experience He left home at the tender age of 15. She shouldn't be having to deal with problems like this at such a tender age.See tender in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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