Chick's tender holding Romeo (4)
I believe the answer is:
bird
'chick's' is the definition.
('bird' can be a synonym of 'chick')
'tender holding romeo' is the wordplay.
'tender' becomes 'bid' ('bid' can be a synonym of 'tender').
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'romeo' becomes 'r' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'bid' going around 'r' is 'BIRD'.
(Other definitions for bird that I've seen before include "Flying creature" , "Egg-laying creature" , "Flier - spell in prison" , "Fowl" , "A prison sentence (slang)" .)