Tenaillon noun [ French See Tenaille .] (Fort.) A work constructed on each side of the ravelins, to increase their strength, procure additional ground beyond the ditch, or cover the shoulders of the bastions.

Tenancy noun ; plural Tenacies . [ Confer Old French tenace , Late Latin tenentia . See Tenant .] (Law) (a) A holding, or a mode of holding, an estate; tenure; the temporary possession of what belongs to another. (b) (O. Eng. Law) A house for habitation, or place to live in, held of another. Blount. Blackstone. Wharton.

Tenant noun [ French tenant , present participle of tenir to hold. See Tenable , and confer Lieutenant .]
1. (Law) One who holds or possesses lands, or other real estate, by any kind of right, whether in fee simple, in common, in severalty, for life, for years, or at will; also, one who has the occupation or temporary possession of lands or tenements the title of which is in another; -- correlative to landlord . See Citation from Blackstone , under Tenement , 2. Blount. Wharton.

2. One who has possession of any place; a dweller; an occupant. "Sweet tenants of this grove." Cowper.

The hhappy tenant of your shade.

Cowley.

The sister tenants of the middle deep.

Byron.

Tenant in capite [ Latin in in + capite , abl. of caput head, chief.], or Tenant in chief , by the laws of England, one who holds immediately of the king. According to the feudal system, all lands in England are considered as held immediately or mediately of the king, who is styled lord paramount . Such tenants, however, are considered as having the fee of the lands and permanent possession. Blackstone. -- Tenant in common . See under Common .

Tenant transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tenanted ; present participle & verbal noun Tenanting .] To hold, occupy, or possess as a tenant.

Sir Roger's estate is tenanted by persons who have served him or his ancestors.

Addison.

Tenant saw See Tenon saw , under Tenon .

Tenantable adjective Fit to be rented; in a condition suitable for a tenant. -- Ten"ant*a*ble*ness , noun

Tenantless adjective Having no tenants; unoccupied; as, a tenantless mansion. Shak.

Tenantry noun
1. The body of tenants; as, the tenantry of a manor or a kingdom.

2. Tenancy. [ Obsolete] Ridley.

Tench noun [ Old French tenche , French tanche , Latin tinca .] (Zoology) A European fresh- water fish ( Tinca tinca , or T. vulgaris ) allied to the carp. It is noted for its tenacity of life.

Tend transitive verb [ See Tender to offer.] (O. Eng. Law) To make a tender of; to offer or tender. [ Obsolete]

Tend transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tended ; present participle & verbal noun Tending .] [ Aphetic form of attend . See Attend , Tend to move, and confer Tender one that tends or attends.]
1. To accompany as an assistant or protector; to care for the wants of; to look after; to watch; to guard; as, shepherds tend their flocks. Shak.

And flaming ministers to watch and tend
Their earthly charge.

Milton.

There 's not a sparrow or a wren,
There 's not a blade of autumn grain,
Which the four seasons do not tend
And tides of life and increase lend.

Emerson.

2. To be attentive to; to note carefully; to attend to.

Being to descend
A ladder much in height, I did not tend
My way well down.

Chapman.

To tend a vessel (Nautical) , to manage an anchored vessel when the tide turns, so that in swinging she shall not entangle the cable.

Tend intransitive verb
1. To wait, as attendants or servants; to serve; to attend; -- with on or upon .

Was he not companion with the riotous knights
That tend upon my father?

Shak.

2. [ French attendre .] To await; to expect. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Tend intransitive verb [ French tendre , Latin tendere , tensum and tentum , to stretch, extend, direct one's course, tend; akin to Greek ... to stretch, Sanskrit tan . See Thin , and confer Tend to attend, Contend , Intense , Ostensible , Portent , Tempt , Tender to offer, Tense , adjective ]
1. To move in a certain direction; -- usually with to or towards .

Two gentlemen tending towards that sight.

Sir H. Wotton.

Thus will this latter, as the former world,
Still tend from bad to worse.

Milton.

The clouds above me to the white Alps tend .

Byron.

2. To be directed, as to any end, object, or purpose; to aim; to have or give a leaning; to exert activity or influence; to serve as a means; to contribute; as, our petitions, if granted, might tend to our destruction.

The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.

Prov. xxi. 5.

The laws of our religion tend to the universal happiness of mankind.

Tillotson.

Tendance noun [ See Tend to attend, and confer Attendance .]
1. The act of attending or waiting; attendance. [ Archaic] Spenser.

The breath
Of her sweet tendance hovering over him.

Tennyson.

2. Persons in attendance; attendants. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Tendence noun Tendency. [ Obsolete]

Tendency noun ; plural Tendencies . [ Latin tendents , -entis , present participle of tendere : confer French tendance . See Tend to move.] Direction or course toward any place, object, effect, or result; drift; causal or efficient influence to bring about an effect or result.

Writings of this kind, if conducted with candor, have a more particular tendency to the good of their country.

Addison.

In every experimental science, there is a tendency toward perfection.

Macaulay.

Syn. -- Disposition; inclination; proneness; drift; scope; aim.

Tender noun [ From Tend to attend. Confer Attender .]
1. One who tends; one who takes care of any person or thing; a nurse.

2. (Nautical) A vessel employed to attend other vessels, to supply them with provisions and other stores, to convey intelligence, or the like.

3. A car attached to a locomotive, for carrying a supply of fuel and water.

Tender transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tendered ; present participle & verbal noun Tendering .] [ French tendre to stretch, stretch out, reach, Latin 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.

2. To offer in words; to present for acceptance.

You see how all conditions, how all minds, . . . tender down
Their services to Lord Timon.

Shak.

Tender noun
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.

» 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.

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.

A free, unlimited tender of the gospel.

South.

3. The thing offered; especially, money offered in payment of an obligation. Shak.

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.

Tender adjective [ Compar. Tenderer ; superl. Tenderest .] [ French tendre , Latin 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.

2. Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained.

Our bodies are not naturally more tender than our faces.

L'Estrange.

3. Physically weak; not hardly or able to endure hardship; immature; effeminate.

The tender and delicate woman among you.

Deut. xxviii. 56.

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.

The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

James v. 11.

I am choleric by my nature, and tender by my temper.

Fuller.

5. Exciting kind concern; dear; precious.

I love Valentine,
Whose life's as tender to me as my soul!

Shak.

6. Careful to save inviolate, or not to injure; -- with of . " Tender of property." Burke.

The civil authority should be tender of the honor of God and religion.

Tillotson.

7. Unwilling to cause pain; gentle; mild.

You, that are thus so tender o'er his follies,
Will never do him good.

Shak.

8. Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic; as, tender expressions; tender expostulations; a tender strain.

9. Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate; as, a tender subject. "Things that are tender and unpleasing." Bacon.

10. (Nautical) Heeling over too easily when under sail; -- said of a vessel.

» Tender is sometimes used in the formation of self- explaining compounds; as, tender -footed, tender -looking, tender -minded, tender -mouthed, and the like.

Syn. -- Delicate; effeminate; soft; sensitive; compassionate; kind; humane; merciful; pitiful.

Tender noun [ Confer French tendre .] Regard; care; kind concern. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Tender transitive verb To have a care of; to be tender toward; hence, to regard; to esteem; to value. [ Obsolete]

For first, next after life, he tendered her good.

Spenser.

Tender yourself more dearly.

Shak.

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.

Tender-hearted adjective Having great sensibility; susceptible of impressions or influence; affectionate; pitying; sensitive. -- Ten"der-heart`ed*ly , adverb -- Ten"der-heart`ed*ness , noun

Rehoboam was young and tender-hearted , and could not withstand them.

2 Chron. xiii. 7.

Be ye kind one to another, tender- hearted .

Eph. iv. 32.

Tender-hefted adjective Having great tenderness; easily moved. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Tenderfoot noun A delicate person; one not inured to the hardship and rudeness of pioneer life. [ Slang, Western U. S.]

Tenderfoot noun See Boy scout .

Tenderling noun
1. One made tender by too much kindness; a fondling. [ R.] W. Harrison (1586).

2. (Zoology) One of the first antlers of a deer.

Tenderloin noun A strip of tender flesh on either side of the vertebral column under the short ribs, in the hind quarter of beef and pork. It consists of the psoas muscles.

Tenderloin noun
1. A strip of tender flesh on either side of the vertebral column under the short ribs, in beef or pork. It consists of the psoas muscles.

2. In New York City, the region which is the center of the night life of fashionable amusement, including the majority of the theaters, etc., centering on Broadway. The term orig. designates the old twenty-ninth police precinct, in this region, which afforded the police great opportunities for profit through conniving at vice and lawbreaking, one captain being reported to have said on being transferred there that whereas he had been eating chuck steak he would now eat tenderlion. Hence, in some other cities, a district largely devoted to night amusement, or, sometimes, to vice.

Tenderly adverb In a tender manner; with tenderness; mildly; gently; softly; in a manner not to injure or give pain; with pity or affection; kindly. Chaucer.

Tenderness noun The quality or state of being tender (in any sense of the adjective).

Syn. -- Benignity; humanity; sensibility; benevolence; kindness; pity; clemency; mildness; mercy.

Tendinous adjective [ Confer French tendineux .]
1. Pertaining to a tendon; of the nature of tendon.

2. Full of tendons; sinewy; as, nervous and tendinous parts of the body.

Tendment noun Attendance; care. [ Obsolete]

Tendon noun [ French, from Latin tendere to stretch, extend. See Tend to move.] (Anat.) A tough insensible cord, bundle, or band of fibrous connective tissue uniting a muscle with some other part; a sinew.

Tendon reflex (Physiol.) , a kind of reflex act in which a muscle is made to contract by a blow upon its tendon. Its absence is generally a sign of disease. See Knee jerk , under Knee .

Tendonous adjective Tendinous.

Tendosynovitis noun [ New Latin See Tendon , and Synovitis .] See Tenosynovitis .

Tendrac noun [ See Tenrec .] (Zoology) Any one of several species of small insectivores of the family Centetidæ , belonging to Ericulus , Echinope , and related genera, native of Madagascar. They are more or less spinose and resemble the hedgehog in habits. The rice tendrac ( Oryzorictes hora ) is very injurious to rice crops. Some of the species are called also tenrec .

Tendre noun [ French] Tender feeling or fondness; affection.

You poor friendless creatures are always having some foolish tendre .

Thackeray.

Tendresse noun [ French] Tender feeling; fondness. [ Obsolete, except as a French word]

Tendril noun [ Shortened from Old French tendrillon , from French tendre tender; hence, properly, the tender branch or spring of a plant: confer French tendrille . See Tender , adjective , and confer Tendron .] (Botany) A slender, leafless portion of a plant by which it becomes attached to a supporting body, after which the tendril usually contracts by coiling spirally.

» Tendrils may represent the end of a stem, as in the grapevine; an axillary branch, as in the passion flower; stipules, as in the genus Smilax; or the end of a leaf, as in the pea.

Tendril adjective Clasping; climbing as a tendril. [ R.] Dyer.

Tendriled, Tendrilled adjective (Botany) Furnished with tendrils, or with such or so many, tendrils. "The thousand tendriled vine." Southey.

Tendron noun [ French Confer Tendril .] A tendril. [ Obsolete] Holland.

Tendry noun A tender; an offer. [ Obsolete] Heylin.

Tene noun & v. See 1st and 2d Teen . [ Obsolete]

Tenebricose adjective [ Latin tenebricosus .] Tenebrous; dark; gloomy. [ Obsolete]

Tenebrific adjective [ Latin tenebrae darkness + facere to make.] Rendering dark or gloomy; tenebrous; gloomy.

It lightens, it brightens,
The tenebrific scene.

Burns.

Where light
Lay fitful in a tenebrific time.

R. Browning.

Tenebrificous adjective Tenebrific.

Authors who are tenebrificous stars.

Addison.

Tenebrious adjective Tenebrous. Young.

Tenebræ noun [ Latin , plural, darkness.] (R. C. Ch.) The matins and lauds for the last three days of Holy Week, commemorating the sufferings and death of Christ, -- usually sung on the afternoon or evening of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, instead of on the following days.