strong vs tender

strong

adj
  • Severe; very bad or intense. 

  • Highly stimulating to the senses. 

  • Having an offensive or intense odor or flavor. 

  • Having a high concentration of an essential or active ingredient. 

  • Having a specified number of people or units. 

  • Having a wide range of logical consequences; widely applicable. (Often contrasted with a weak statement which it implies.) 

  • Capable of producing great physical force. 

  • Inflecting in a different manner than the one called weak, such as Germanic verbs which change vowels. 

  • Determined; unyielding. 

  • Having a high alcoholic content. 

  • Not easily subdued or taken. 

  • Having wealth or resources. 

  • Impressive, good. 

  • That completely ionizes into anions and cations in a solution. 

  • Convincing. 

  • Having a lot of power. 

  • Capable of withstanding great physical force. 

adv
  • In a strong manner. 

tender

adj
  • Sensitive or painful to the touch. 

  • Easily bruised or injured; not firm or hard; delicate. 

  • Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel. 

  • Sensible to impression and pain; easily pained. 

  • Soft and easily chewed. 

  • Apt to give pain; causing grief or pain; delicate. 

  • Physically weak; not able to endure hardship. 

  • Fond, loving, gentle, or sweet. 

  • Adapted to excite feeling or sympathy; expressive of the softer passions; pathetic. 

  • Young and inexperienced. 

verb
  • to offer a payment, as at sales or auctions. 

  • To offer, to give. 

  • To work on a tender. 

adv
  • tenderly 

noun
  • Any offer or proposal made for acceptance. 

  • A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore. 

  • A formal offer to buy or sell something. 

  • A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water. 

  • A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships. 

  • A means of payment such as a check or cheque, cash or credit card. 

  • Anything which is offered, proffered, put forth or bid with the expectation of a response, answer, or reply. 

  • The inner flight muscle (pectoralis minor) of poultry. 

How often have the words strong and tender occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )