Definition of "tenderize" [tenderize]

• To make (meat) tender, as by marinating, pounding, or applying a tenderizer. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It is usually dried in sheets and rolled to tenderize it - thus its name, "machacado" -, so it can be shreded by hand to fry it with eggs and/or salsa."
• "If you need to tenderize your venison, brine instead."
• "I guess I better get to parboiling that hat to tenderize it some ......."