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promise, contract, oath, or vow, or of law; that which constitutes legal or moral duty. A tender conscience is a stronger obligation than a proson. Fuller.

e rules over many things. Matt. xxv. 23. Dost thou not watch over my sin Job xiv. 16. His tender mercies are over all his works. Ps. cxlv. 9.

All-wise; claiming universal knowledge; as, pansophical pretenders. [R.] John Worthington.

ly lobed leaves. The milky juice of the plant is said to have the property of making meat tender. Also, its dull orange-colored, melon- shaped fruit, which is eaten both raw and cooked or pickled.

Like pap; soft; succulent; tender. Ray.

Becoming to, or characteristic of, parents; tender; affectionate; devoted; as, parental care. The careful course and parental provision of nature. Sir T. Browne.

from possession won with arms. Milton. It was strange to him that a father should feel no tenderness at parting with an only son. A. Trollope.

o exceed. And strive to pass . . . Their native music by her skillful art. Spenser. Whose tender power Passes the strength of storms in their most desolate hour. Byron.

A tender to a fleet, formerly used for conveying men, orders, or treasure. [Spain & Portugal]

Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story. "Pathetic action." Macaulay. No theory of the passions can teach a man to be pathetic. E. Porter. Pathetic muscle (Anat.), the superior oblique muscle of the eye. -- Pathetic nerve (Anat.), the fourth cranial, or…

ing which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, esp., that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality; as, the pathos of a picture, of a poem, or of a cry. The combination of incident, and the pathos of catast…

One who puts on an air of learning; one who makes a vain display of learning; a pretender to superior knowledge. Addison. A scholar, yet surely no pedant, was he. Goldsmith.

A pretender to philosophy. [Obs.] Dr. H. More.

A pretender in philosophy.

To thrust into, penetrate, or transfix, with a pointed instrument. "I pierce . . . her tender side." Dryden.

A small vessel propelled by sails or oars, formerly employed as a tender, or for coast defence; -- called originally, spynace or spyne.

Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender. "[She] piteous of his case." Pope. She was so charitable and so pitous. Chaucer.

Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic. The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. 11.

pity or compassion for; to have sympathy with; to compassionate; to commiserate; to have tender feelings toward (any one), awakened by a knowledge of suffering. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Ps. ciii. 13.

A private memorial tendered to a court, in which a person sets forth his cause of action; the exhibiting of an action in writing. Blackstone.