tone

SayTOHN/toʊn/UK/təʊn/

Pluraltones

Verbtones, toning, toned

21 meanings of tone

Practice

1
attitudenouncountable
The feeling that comes through in how someone speaks or writes, like friendly or angry.
Like the look on someone's face: it tells you how they feel about what they're saying.
The teacher's email had a kind tone, so I didn't worry.
Watch your tone when you talk to your grandmother.
Similarstyle, manner, voice
Note
2
color shadenouncountable
The exact shade of a color, like light blue or dark blue.
The walls were painted in a soft tone of green.
Her new lipstick has a darker tone than her old one.
Similarshade, hue, tint, tinge
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3
atmospherenounfigurativelycountable
The general feeling of a place, event, or situation.
The party had a relaxed tone, and everyone felt welcome.
His joke at the start set a fun tone for the meeting.
Similarmood, atmosphere, feel, spirit
Note
4
sound qualitynouncountable or uncountable
The special quality of a sound that makes one voice or instrument different from another.
The guitar has a warm, soft tone.
I love the deep tone of the old piano.
Similartimbre, sound
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5
nouncountable
A sound at one exact musical level, such as a single note or a beep.
The phone played a short tone before the message started.
She sang one clear tone and held it for ten seconds.
Similarnote, sound, pitch
Note
6
make firmerverbtransitive
To make something firmer, especially the muscles of the body.
These exercises tone your stomach muscles.
Swimming toned her arms over the summer.
Similarfirm, strengthen, tighten, sculpt, shape
7
muscle firmnessnoununcountable
How firm and strong a muscle looks and feels.
Swimming is a great way to build muscle tone.
After months in a cast, his leg lost its tone.
Similardefinition, firmness, tautness
Oppositeflabbiness
Note
8
noununcountable
The normal tightness of muscles that keeps them ready to respond.
Like a spring that stays ready to bounce back.
Regular exercise helps keep the muscles in good tone.
Babies are checked for normal muscle tone soon after birth.
Note
9
light and shadenouncountable or uncountable
The pleasing overall look of a painting made by blending light, shade, and color.
Like how a room feels just right when the lights and colors fit together.
Critics praised the soft tone of the landscape, where light and shadow blended gently.
The whole scene gains its calm tone from the balance of bright and dark areas.
Note
10
verbtransitive
To give something a certain feeling or quality.
Good speakers tone their words to fit the moment.
Sadness toned his voice as he said goodbye.
Similarcolor, tinge, tailor

Less common meanings

11
word pitchnouncountable
How high or low your voice goes on a word, which changes its meaning in some languages.
In Mandarin, saying 'ma' with a different tone gives you a different word.
She practiced the four tones every day before her Chinese class.
Note
12
change colorverbtransitive
To change the color of something, like a photo or hair.
You can tone your hair to get rid of yellow shades.
The app toned the photo so it looked older.
Similartint, color, dye
13
whole stepnouncountable
A distance between two musical notes, like from C up to D.
On the piano, the notes C and D are one tone apart.
Move every note up a tone and the song will be easier to sing.
Note
14
nounfigurativelyuncountable
The respectable or classy quality of a place, event, or group.
Like good music that makes a party feel nicer.
Their loud arguing really lowered the tone of the party.
A few rude guests can lower the tone of any event.
Similarclass, standard
Note
15
healthnoununcountable
A healthy, strong condition of the body or its parts.
Like a machine that is kept in good working order.
Months of training brought his body into excellent tone.
Rest and good food restored the tone of her tired body.
Similarfitness, condition, vigor, health
Note
16
church chantnouncountable
A simple sung melody used for chanting prayers or sacred words.
Like a tune you hum the same way each time you say something.
The monks sang the psalm to a gentle tone.
Each prayer was chanted on the same simple tone.
Note
17
gunnounslangcountable
A gun, especially a handgun.
He kept a tone tucked into his waistband.
Somebody flashed a tone outside the club.
Similargun, piece, strap, pistol
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18
put on a voiceverbtransitive
To say words in a fake, showy voice.
Like putting on a silly voice to sound important.
Actors sometimes tone their lines to sound grander than the moment needs.
She toned the announcement in a syrupy voice that annoyed everyone.
Similarintone, chant
Note
19
state of mindnounobsolete
A person's mood or state of mind.
Note
20
noundatedcountable
A whining, fake way of speaking with a sing-song rise and fall.
Like a voice that rises and falls the same way over and over.
The beggar spoke in a whining tone that grated on everyone.
She read the poem in a sing-song tone that sounded forced.
Similardrone, singsong, whine
Note
21
one of twopronoundialectal
In some local ways of speaking, the one of two people or things, not the other.
There were two kittens left, so we kept the tone and gave the tother to our neighbor.
Both paths go to the farm, but the tone is much shorter.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of tone apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–20

It came through Latin "tonus" meaning sound or tone, from Greek "tonos" meaning tension or pitch, from a word meaning "I stretch."

Meaning 21

It came from wrongly splitting the phrase "thet one" ("the one") into "the tone."