tone

plural tones

1. entertainmentA specific pitch.
2. entertainment(in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.

   Synonyms: whole tone

3. entertainment(in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
4. The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
5. human sciencesThe pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
6. datedhuman sciencesA 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.

7. human sciencesThe manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.

   Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.

   1850, William Cullen Bryant, Letters of a Traveller

8. obsoleteState of mind; temper; mood.

   c. 1714 (undated), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, letter to Alexander Pope The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, […] drag the mind down […] from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.

9. The shade or quality of a colour.

   We make crude visual distinctions and effectively meaningless categorizations based on average skin tones, such as black or white.

   2017, Adam Rutherford, A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived, The Experiment, →ISBN, page 81

10. paintingThe favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.

    This picture has tone.

11. The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.
12. biologyThe state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
13. biologyNormal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
14. slangAfrican-American Vernaculara gun

    But nigga don't step wrong, cuz 8ball keep a tone

    1993, “9 Little Millimeta Boys”, in 8Ball (lyrics), Comin' Out Hard

    2 more examples

    M.A.C.T.D.O.G got the tone so hoe you know it's on

    1994, “Murda In Da 1st Degree”, in Princess Loko (lyrics), Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust

    Got the tone to ya head yo life flashing right front your eyes

    2002, “Mouth Write a Check”, in Project Pat (lyrics), Layin' da Smack Down

15. figurativelyThe general character, atmosphere, mood, or vibe (of a situation, place, etc.).

    Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.

    4 more examples

    They constructed or perfected an elaborate system of religious ritual designed to forestall and engross the divine favour, and so to make Zion the holy city, the joy and centre of God's kingdom on earth. With these aims and ambitions the tone of public life became more and more clerical, its interests ecclesiastical, its predominant influence priestly.

    1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 132

    Mr O'Brien confirmed the warning from the council was based on the fact that the structure the mural was painted on was not a temporary one and on the claim that it changes the tone of the street and impacts on the area.

    2016 July 25, Megan McDermott, “'Repeal the 8th' mural in Project Arts Centre in Temple Bar removed”, in Irish Times

    Manuel expects that once 2 St. Clair West is done it will change the tone of the neighbourhood.

    2016 December 30, Francine Kopun, “Sleepy Yonge and St. Clair gets a makeover”, in Toronto Star

    "What struck me most was not necessarily what was said but ... the tone of the room, ... the fear and anxiety that people have for their family members who are currently in the grip of addiction," Green said.

    2022 December 2, “Many solutions, some small, needed to tackle addictions in the N.W.T.”, in CBC

16. figurativelyChiefly in the form lower/raise the tone of somethingThe quality of being respectable or admirable.

    "I am going to raise the tone of the business. That's wot I want you for. To raise the tone of the business."

    1904, May Sinclair, The Divine Fire, H. Holt, page 340

    4 more examples

    The teaching we have had of late has lowered the tone of Christianity, as the remarks by the two gentlemen who preceded me will attest; and, instead of producing stalwart manhood, it has generated a brood of mountebanks. Give us a pure Gospel or a vacant pulpit!

    1911, Charles Augustus Jenkens, The Bride's Return, Or, How Grand Avenue Church Came to Christ, C.H. Robinson, page 67

    But Mr Fagan said the tone of the street was brought down by the presence of people he termed "the Gatwickians" — residents of a rooming house called the Gatwick Private Hotel.

    2015 July 9, Simon Leo Brown, “St Kilda's Fitzroy Street left to rot says hotel owner”, in ABC News

    But for anyone hoping that what proved to be a brief two-way female Tory leadership race might have raised the tone of British politics—currently at an all-time low after the vicious backroom machinations of Brexit referendum—the news wasn't promising.

    2016 July 11, Leah McLaren, “After Brexit, a political revolution in the U.K.—for women”, in Maclean's

    That story is replicated wherever there is a brightly decorated house and a neighbour who cares about the tone of the street.

    2017 December 11, Michael Hann, “C7 bulbs or C9s? How Christmas lights became a nerdy obsession”, in The Guardian

present singular third person tones · participle present toning · participle past toned · past toned

1. transitiveto give a particular tone to
2. transitiveto change the colour of

   Synonyms: color, colour, dye, paint, tint

3. transitiveto make (something) firmer

   Synonyms: firm, firm up, tone up

4. transitiveto utter with an affected tone.

1. dialectalthe one (of two)

1. A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony

1. A river in Somerset, England, which flows into the River Parrett.