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TONE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color
Example:
after several trials he mixed the shade of pink that she wanted
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
color; coloring; colour; colouring (a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
mellowness (a soft shade of a color)
richness (a strong deep vividness of hue)
tinge; undertone (a pale or subdued color)
Derivation:
tone (change to a color image)
tone (change the color or tone of)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages
Example:
the Beijing dialect uses four tones
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
pitch (the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration)
Domain category:
linguistics (the scientific study of language)
Derivation:
intonate (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)
tonal (employing variations in pitch to distinguish meanings of otherwise similar words)
tone (vary the pitch of one's speech)
tonic (employing variations in pitch to distinguish meanings of otherwise similar words)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound)
Example:
the muffled tones of the broken bell summoned them to meet
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
sound property (an attribute of sound)
Domain category:
music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
harmonic (any of a series of musical tones whose frequencies are integral multiples of the frequency of a fundamental)
resonance (the quality imparted to voiced speech sounds by the action of the resonating chambers of the throat and mouth and nasal cavities)
color; coloration; colour; colouration (the timbre of a musical sound)
nasality (a quality of the voice that is produced by nasal resonators)
plangency; resonance; reverberance; ringing; sonority; sonorousness; vibrancy (having the character of a loud deep sound; the quality of being resonant)
shrillness; stridence; stridency (having the timbre of a loud high-pitched sound)
register ((music) the timbre that is characteristic of a certain range and manner of production of the human voice or of different pipe organ stops or of different musical instruments)
Derivation:
tonal (having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic)
tone (vary the pitch of one's speech)
Sense 4
Meaning:
The quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author
Example:
from the tone of her behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone)
Sense 5
Meaning:
A steady sound without overtones
Example:
they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies
Synonyms:
pure tone; tone
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
auditory sensation; sound (the subjective sensation of hearing something)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
harmonic (a tone that is a component of a complex sound)
Derivation:
tonal (having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic)
Sense 6
Meaning:
A musical interval of two semitones
Synonyms:
step; tone; whole step; whole tone
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
interval; musical interval (the difference in pitch between two notes)
Sense 7
Meaning:
A notation representing the pitch and duration of a musical sound
Example:
the singer held the note too long
Synonyms:
musical note; note; tone
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
musical notation ((music) notation used by musicians)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
passing note; passing tone (a nonharmonic note inserted for transition between harmonic notes)
semibreve; whole note (a musical note having the longest time value (equal to four beats in common time))
half note; minim (a musical note having the time value of half a whole note)
crotchet; quarter note (a musical note having the time value of a quarter of a whole note)
eighth note; quaver (a musical note having the time value of an eighth of a whole note)
semiquaver; sixteenth note (a musical note having the time value of a sixteenth of a whole note)
demisemiquaver; thirty-second note (a musical note having the time value of a thirty-second of a whole note)
hemidemisemiquaver; sixty-fourth note (a musical note having the time value of a sixty-fourth of a whole note)
acciaccatura; appoggiatura; grace note (an embellishing note usually written in smaller size)
blue note (a flattened third or seventh)
monotone (a single tone repeated with different words or different rhythms (especially in rendering liturgical texts))
chord (a combination of three or more notes that blend harmoniously when sounded together)
middle C (the note designated by the first ledger line below the treble staff; 261.63 hertz)
shake; trill (a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it)
pedal; pedal point (a sustained bass note)
leading tone; subtonic ((music) the seventh note of the diatonic scale)
submediant ((music) the sixth note of a major or minor scale (or the third below the tonic))
dominant ((music) the fifth note of the diatonic scale)
subdominant ((music) the fourth note of the diatonic scale)
mediant ((music) the third note of a diatonic scale; midway between the tonic and the dominant)
supertonic ((music) the second note of a diatonic scale)
keynote; tonic ((music) the first note of a diatonic scale)
Holonyms ("tone" is a member of...):
musical scale; scale ((music) a series of notes differing in pitch according to a specific scheme (usually within an octave))
Derivation:
tonic (relating to or being the keynote of a major or minor scale)
Sense 8
Meaning:
The quality of a person's voice
Example:
he spoke in a nervous tone of voice
Synonyms:
tone; tone of voice
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
delivery; manner of speaking; speech (your characteristic style or manner of expressing yourself orally)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
note (a tone of voice that shows what the speaker is feeling)
rotundity; roundness (the fullness of a tone of voice)
undertone (a quiet or hushed tone of voice)
Derivation:
intonate (speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone)
Sense 9
Meaning:
The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
Example:
it had the smell of treason
Synonyms:
feel; feeling; flavor; flavour; look; smell; spirit; tone
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
ambiance; ambience; atmosphere (a particular environment or surrounding influence)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
Hollywood (a flashy vulgar tone or atmosphere believed to be characteristic of the American film industry)
Zeitgeist (the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation)
Sense 10
Meaning:
The elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli
Example:
the doctor tested my tonicity
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("tone" is a kind of...):
tautness; tenseness; tension; tensity (the physical condition of being stretched or strained)
Domain category:
muscle; muscular tissue (animal tissue consisting predominantly of contractile cells)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tone"):
catatonia (extreme tonus; muscular rigidity; a common symptom in catatonic schizophrenia)
muscle tone; muscular tonus (normal tonicity of the muscles)
myotonia (abnormally long muscular contractions; slow relaxation of a muscle after a contraction)
hypertonia; hypertonicity; hypertonus ((of muscular tissue) the state of being hypertonic)
hypotonia; hypotonicity; hypotonus ((of muscular tissue) the state of being hypotonic)
Derivation:
tone (give a healthy elasticity to)
tonic (of or relating to or producing normal tone or tonus in muscles or tissue)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they tone ... he / she / it tones
Past simple: toned
Past participle: toned
-ing form: toning
Sense 1
Meaning:
Give a healthy elasticity to
Example:
Let's tone our muscles
Synonyms:
strengthen; tone; tone up
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "tone" is one way to...):
exercise; work out (do physical exercise)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
tone (the elastic tension of living muscles, arteries, etc. that facilitate response to stimuli)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Change to a color image
Example:
tone a photographic image
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "tone" is one way to...):
color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
tone (a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color)
toner (a solution containing chemicals that can change the color of a photographic print)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Change the color or tone of
Example:
tone a negative
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Hypernyms (to "tone" is one way to...):
color; colour; discolor; discolour (change color, often in an undesired manner)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Derivation:
tone (a quality of a given color that differs slightly from another color)
toner (a black or colored powder used in a printer to develop a xerographic image)
toner (a solution containing chemicals that can change the color of a photographic print)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Vary the pitch of one's speech
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "tone" is one way to...):
mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
tone ((linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages)
tone ((music) the distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound))
Sense 5
Meaning:
Utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically
Example:
The students chanted the same slogan over and over again
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing
Hypernyms (to "tone" is one way to...):
mouth; speak; talk; utter; verbalise; verbalize (express in speech)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples:
"Well, then, I might as well be gettin' along," Skiff Miller said in the ordinary tones of one departing.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It acts as a modulator of vasomotor tone, cell proliferation, and hormone production. (N Eng J Med 1995;333(6):356-63)
(Endothelin-1, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
The tone of it all is low.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The researchers also monitored brain activity in response to sounds of toneless noises that were designed to match the frequency levels of each tone played.
(Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch, National Institutes of Health)
Humans can distinguish several million different colors and almost half a million different tones.
(Humans Can Identify More Than 1 Trillion Smells, NIH, US)
This cholinergic agonist also increases the tone of smooth muscle in the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts.
(Cevimeline, NCI Thesaurus)
She made no reply, and I knew my tone must have hurt her.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Sir, said Mrs. Crupp, in a tone approaching to severity, I've laundressed other young gentlemen besides yourself.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Then Van Helsing said in a quiet grave tone:—"Tell us your dream, Mr. Renfield."
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
She came forward with an offered hand; and said, in a low, but very feeling tone, This is most kind, indeed!
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
