Tone meaning
The definition of a tone is a sound in terms of its quality, pitch, origin or power.
An example of tone is off-key.
noun
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.
verb
Tone is defined as to strengthen or firm up.
An example of tone is to lift weights every day to build muscle.
verb
Tone is the quality or implied meaning of something that is said.
An example of tone is sarcasm.
noun
Manner of expression in speech or writing.
Took an angry tone with the reporters.
noun
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A general quality, effect, or atmosphere.
A room with an elegant tone.
noun
The general effect in painting of light, color, and shade.
noun
To give a particular tone or inflection to.
verb
To soften or change the color of (a painting or photographic negative, for example).
verb
To sound monotonously; intone.
verb
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To make firmer or stronger. Often used with up .
Exercises that tone up the body.
verb
To assume a particular color quality.
verb
To harmonize in color.
verb
An intonation, pitch, modulation, etc. of the voice that expresses a particular meaning or feeling of the speaker.
A tone of contempt.
noun
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.
noun
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Normal resilience or elasticity.
Rubber that has lost its tone.
noun
The effect produced by the combination of light, shade, and color.
noun
To give a tone to; specif., to give the proper or desired tone to (a musical instrument, a painting, etc.)
verb
To change the tone of.
verb
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Normal firmness of a tissue or an organ.
noun
(biology) Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
noun
To give a particular tone to.
verb
To change the colour of.
verb
To make (something) firmer.
verb
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To utter with an affected tone.
verb
To change or alter the color of (a print) by chemical means.
verb
To assume a tone.
verb
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The quality or character of sound.
noun
The normal state of elastic tension or partial contraction in resting muscles.
noun
To give tone or firmness to.
verb
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General character, mood, or trend.
Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.
noun
(linguistics) The pitch of a word that distinguishes a difference in meaning, for example in Chinese.
noun
(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.
noun
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The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.
This picture has tone.
noun
(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.
noun
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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.
idiom
tone in with
- To harmonize with.
idiom
tone up
- To give a higher or more intense tone to.
- To become strengthened or heightened.
idiom
Origin of tone
- Middle English ton from Old French from Latin tonus from Greek tonos string, a stretching ten- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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From Wiktionary
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From Wiktionary