Search the Dictionary

Difficult; nice; critical; as, a ticklish business. Surely princes had need, in tender matters and ticklish times, to beware what they say. Bacon. -- Tic"klish*ly, adv. -- Tic"klish*ness, n.

Tender; soft; nice; -- now only used in tidbit.

A delicate or tender piece of anything eatable; a delicious morsel. [Written also titbit.]

To use with tenderness; to fondle. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

en. What of sweet before Hath touched my sense, flat seems to this and harsh. Milton. The tender sire was touched with what he said. Addison.

Affected with fear or timidity; trembling. The tender, tremulous Christian. Dr. H. More. -- Trem"u*lous*ly, adv. -- Trem"u*lous*ness, n.

or one with whom a tryst or engagement is made; to keep an engagement or appointment. The tenderest-hearted maid That ever bided tryst at village stile. Tennyson.

masters as a middle or neutral tint for flesh, skies, and draperies, being of a purer and tenderer gray that produced by the mixture of more positive colors. Fairholt.

ss, or the like, which excites emotion; especially, strong devotion; religious fervor and tenderness; sometimes, a simulated, factitious, or unnatural fervor. The delightful equivoque and unction of the passage in Farquhar. Hazlitt. The mention of thy glory Is unction to the breast. Neale (Rhythm of St. Bernard). Extre…

Bland; suave; also, tender; fervid; as, an unctuous speech; sometimes, insincerely suave or fervid. -- Unc"tu*ous*ly, adv. -- Unc"tu*ous*ness, n.

; cruel; hard-hearted. To each his sufferings: all are men, Condemned alike to groan; The tender for another's pain, Th' unfeeling for his own. Gray. -- Un*feel"ing*ly, adv. -- Un*feel"ing*ness, n.

int or other connection uniting parts of machinery, or the like, as the elastic pipe of a tender connecting it with the feed pipe of a locomotive engine; especially, a pipe fitting for connecting pipes, or pipes and fittings, in such a way as to facilitate disconnection.

the usurper of a throne, of power, or of the rights of a patron. A crown will not want pretenders to claim it, not usurpers, if their power serves them, to possess it. South.

t forth or out; to reach out. [Obs.] How bragly [proudly] it begins to bud, And utter his tender head. Spenser.

A goose-neck apparatus for supplying water from an elevated tank, as to the tender of a locomotive.

Any fish of the genus Cynoscion; a squeteague; -- so called from its tender mouth. See Squeteague. Spotted weakfish (Zoöl.), the spotted squeteague.

ek to harm. Milton. Turn the discourse; I have a reason why I would not have you speak so tenderly. Dryden.

Becoming or life; of or pertaining to a wife. "Wifely patience." Chaucer. With all the tenderness of wifely love. Dryden.

A person who has little wit or understanding; a pretender to wit or smartness. A beau and witing perished in the forming. Pope. Ye newspaper witlings! ye pert scribbling folks! Goldsmith.

more than the men; that, wherever found, they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings, inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest. J. Ledyard.