tone meaning and definition

TONE noun

Definition of tone (noun)

1. the quality of a person's voice
   • "he began in a conversational tone"; "he spoke in a nervous tone of voice"
   • synonyms: tone of voice
2. (linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages
   • "the Beijing dialect uses four tones"
3. (music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
   • "the timbre of her soprano was rich and lovely"; "the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet"
   • synonyms: quality, timber, timbre
4. the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
   • "the feel of the city excited him"; "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting"; "it had the smell of treason"
   • synonyms: feel, feeling, flavor, flavour, look, smell, spirit
5. a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
   • "after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted"
   • synonyms: shade, tincture, tint
6. a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound
   • "the singer held the note too long"
   • synonyms: musical note, note
7. a steady sound without overtones
   • "they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies"
   • synonyms: pure tone
8. the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli
   • "the doctor tested my tonicity"
   • synonyms: tonicity, tonus
   • antonym: amyotonia
9. a musical interval of two semitones
   • synonyms: step, whole step, whole tone
10. the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author
    • "the general tone of articles appearing in the newspapers is that the government should withdraw"; "from the tone of her behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome"

TONE verb

Definition of tone (verb)

1. utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
   • "The students chanted the same slogan over and over again"
   • synonyms: chant, intone
2. vary the pitch of one's speech
   • synonyms: inflect, modulate
3. change the color or tone of
   • "tone a negative"
4. change to a color image
   • "tone a photographic image"
5. give a healthy elasticity to
   • "Let's tone our muscles"
   • synonyms: strengthen, tone up