tone

/tˈoʊn/ · 1 syllable

Meaning

noun

the quality of a person's voice
“he began in a conversational tone”
(linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages
“the Beijing dialect uses four tones”
(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 general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
“the feel of the city excited him”
a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
“after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted”
a notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound
“the singer held the note too long”
a steady sound without overtones
“they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies”
the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli
“the doctor tested my tonicity”
a musical interval of two semitones
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”

verb

utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
“The students chanted the same slogan over and over again”
vary the pitch of one's speech
change the color or tone of
“tone a negative”
change to a color image
“tone a photographic image”
give a healthy elasticity to
“Let's tone our muscles”

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