tone

Use tone in a sentence

The tone of this girl's singing is off-key.

noun

The definition of a tone is a sound in terms of its quality, pitch, origin or power.
An example of tone is off-key.
Tone is the quality or implied meaning of something that is said.
An example of tone is sarcasm.

verb

Tone means to soften or reduce, particularly in artistic terms.
An example of tone is to add white eyeshadow to black eyeshadow so that it is not so harsh.
Tone is defined as to strengthen or firm up.
An example of tone is to lift weights every day to build muscle.

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"tone." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE>.

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tone. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE

tone

1. a vocal or musical sound
2. its quality
an intonation, pitch, modulation, etc. of the voice that expresses a particular meaning or feeling of the speaker: a tone of contempt
a certain attitude on the part of a speaker or writer conveyed by way of word choice, sentence structure, etc.: the friendly tone of her letter
normal resilience or elasticity: rubber that has lost its tone
1. the prevailing or predominant style, character, spirit, trend, morale, or state of morals of a place or period: the cultured tone of their house
2. distinctive style; elegance: paintings that lent the room tone
1. a quality or value of color; tint; shade
2. any of the slight modifications of a particular color; hue: three tones of green
Linguis.
1. the relative height of pitch with which a syllable, word, etc. is pronounced
2. the relative height of pitch that is a phoneme of a language and distinguishes meaning, as in the tone languages
Music
1. a sound that is distinct and identifiable by its regularity of vibration, or constant pitch (as distinguished from a noise), and that may be put into harmonic relation with other such sounds
2. the simple or fundamental tone of a musical sound as distinguished from its overtones
3. any one of the full intervals of a diatonic scale; whole step
4. any of several recitation melodies used in singing the psalms in plainsong
Painting the effect produced by the combination of light, shade, and color
Physiol.
1. the condition of an organism, organ, or part with reference to its normal, healthy functioning
2. the normal tension, or resistance to stretch, of a healthy muscle, independent of that caused by voluntary innervation; tonus

Origin of tone

Middle English from Old French and L: Old French ton from Classical Latin tonus, a sound from Classical Greek tonos, a stretching, tone from teinein, to stretch: see thin

transitive verb

toned, ton′ing

Rare intone
to give a tone to; specif., to give the proper or desired tone to (a musical instrument, a painting, etc.)
to change the tone of
Photog. to change or alter the color of (a print) by chemical means

to assume a tone

tone Idioms

tone down

to give a lower or less intense tone to
to become softened
to make (something written or said) less harsh or more moderate

tone in with

to harmonize with

tone up

to give a higher or more intense tone to
to become strengthened or heightened

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"tone." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE>.

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tone. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE

tone

noun

Music
a. A sound of distinct pitch, quality, and duration; a note.
b. The interval of a major second in the diatonic scale; a whole step.
c. A recitational melody in a Gregorian chant.
a. The quality or character of sound.
b. The characteristic quality or timbre of a particular instrument or voice.
a. The pitch of a word used to determine its meaning or to distinguish differences in meaning.
b. The particular or relative pitch of a word, phrase, or sentence.
Manner of expression in speech or writing: took an angry tone with the reporters.
A general quality, effect, or atmosphere: a room with an elegant tone.
a. A color or shade of color: light tones of blue.
b. Quality of color: The green wallpaper had a particularly somber tone.
The general effect in painting of light, color, and shade.
Physiology
a. The normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles.
b. Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.

verb

toned, ton·ing, tones

verb

transitive

To give a particular tone or inflection to.
To soften or change the color of (a painting or photographic negative, for example).
To sound monotonously; intone.
To make firmer or stronger. Often used with up : exercises that tone up the body.

verb

intransitive

To assume a particular color quality.
To harmonize in color.

Phrasal Verbs: tone down To make less vivid, harsh, or violent; moderate.

Origin of tone

Middle English ton from Old French from Latin tonus from Greek tonos string, a stretching ; see ten- in Indo-European roots.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"tone." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE>.

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tone. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE

Noun

(plural tones)

(music) A specific pitch.
(music) (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
(music) (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
General character, mood, or trend.
Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.
(linguistics) The pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese.
(dated) A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.
Children often read with a tone.
(literature) The manner in which speech or writing is expressed.
The shade or quality of a colour.
The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
This picture has tone.
The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ. see also: tonus
(biology) The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
(biology) Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present tones, present participle toning, simple past and past participle toned)

to give a particular tone to
to change the colour of
to make (something) firmer
(intransitive) to harmonize, especially in colour
To utter with an affected tone.

Origin

From French ton, from Latin tonus (“sound, tone"), from Ancient Greek Ï„ÏŒÎ½Î¿Ï‚ (tonos, “strain, tension, pitch"), from Ï„ÎµÎ¯Î½Ï‰ (teinÅ, “I stretch")

Pronoun

(now dialectal) The one (of two).

Anagrams

Origin

From Middle English tone, ton, toon, from the incorrect division of thet one (“the/that one"). Compare Scots tane in the tane; see also tother.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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"tone." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE>.

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tone. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE

tone - Medical Definition

n.

The quality or character of sound.
The normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles.
Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.

v.

To give tone or firmness to.

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MLA Style

"tone." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 19 May 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE>.

APA Style

tone. (n.d.). Retrieved May 19th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/TONE

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tone

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tone - Medical Definition

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