tune

TOON/tun/TYOON/tjuːn/

19 meanings of tune

1
nouncountable
A succession of musical notes that together form a recognizable melody.
He couldn't get the catchy tune out of his head all day.
The folk tunes of that region share a distinctive rising melody.
Similarmelody, air, strain, theme
2
nouncountable
A musical work, either a song or a short piece in another form.
The DJ mixed several upbeat tunes into one continuous set.
She recorded a new tune for the film's closing credits.
Similarsong, track, number, piece
3
verbtransitive
To bring the notes of a musical instrument to their proper pitches.
Orchestra members tune their instruments to the oboe's A before each concert.
She tuned the old violin patiently, adjusting one peg at a time.
4
verbtransitive
To set a radio or television to the frequency of the channel one wants to receive.
Listeners can tune their receivers to the new FM frequency starting Monday.
She tuned the shortwave set to a distant foreign broadcast late at night.
Similarset, adjust
Note
Radio and television tuning takes to before the station or channel: you tune to Channel 6, or tune the set to a frequency. The phrasal verb tune in means the same thing. Tune in to Channel 6 and tune to Channel 6 are interchangeable, so choose whichever reads more naturally in the sentence.
5
verbtransitive
To make fine adjustments to something, especially a machine or electrical device, so that it performs at its best.
Technicians tune the server's settings to get the best possible performance.
She tuned the laptop's power profile to extend the battery life.
Similaradjust, optimize, calibrate, tweak
6
noununcountable
The state or condition of being correctly tuned, with notes at their proper pitch.
After the long flight, the harp had drifted out of tune.
The choir stayed perfectly in tune throughout the performance.
Note
Almost always met inside a fixed pair of phrases, in tune and out of tune. The pair works as readily for an engine as for a piano or a choir: things drift out of tune, are put back in tune, stay in tune. When the phrase describes people in agreement rather than notes at pitch, it reaches back to the old "harmony" meaning.
7
nouncolloquialcountable
The act of tuning or carrying out maintenance.
The mechanic recommended a full tune after the cold winter.
A regular tune keeps the old engine running reliably.
Similarservice, overhaul
8
verbtransitive
To attune one's senses, attention, or other faculties to a particular thing, or focus them on it.
Experienced editors tune their eyes to catch the smallest errors.
He had tuned his senses to the rhythm of the night shift.
Similarattune, train, adapt, accustom
9
verbtransitive
To make something more precise, intense, or effective, putting it into a proper state.
Engineers tune the algorithm to respond faster under heavy load.
She tuned her presentation until each point landed perfectly.
Similarrefine, hone, polish, perfect, optimize
10
verbtransitive
To attune; to bring into harmony or adapt in musical style.
Skilled speakers tune their tone to the feelings of the audience.
The composer tuned the score to match the film's somber mood.
Similarattune, adapt, adjust, harmonize, tailor

11
verbtransitive
To set written words to music so that they can be sung.
He tuned the ancient hymn lyrics to a haunting new arrangement.
Songwriters tune their lyrics to melodies that fit the mood.
Similarset
Note
Here the thing being tuned is a text, not an instrument. The object is the poem or lyric, and the result is something that can be sung. Charley Shively wrote in 1977 that Ginsberg sang poems from William Blake which he had tuned. Keep it apart from tuning an instrument, where the object is the thing that makes the sound. This sense leans instead toward the noun's meaning of 'melody'.
12
verbtransitive
To give something a particular tone, mood, or character.
She tuned her speech to the somber occasion.
Good editors tune each chapter to the emotional beat of the story.
Similarpitch, tailor, adapt, suit, attune
13
verbobsolete
To make music with the voice, producing melody or harmony.
To ſee great Hercules whipping a Gigge, / And profound Sallomon to tune a Iigge.
c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called
Fountains and yee, that warble, as ye flow, / Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praiſe.
1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost
Note
Singing itself, rather than preparing an instrument for it, was once a meaning of the verb, and it took the song as its object. Shakespeare has Solomon "tune a jig", and Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) has fountains "warbling tune his praise". The sense is obsolete. Today "tuned softly" suggests adjusting pitch, so keep this use for deliberately archaic writing.
14
interjectionslangUK
An exclamation expressing enthusiasm or approval for a song that's playing.
Tune! Crank the volume right up!
The opening chords hit and someone in the back shouted 'Tune!'
Note
A one-word verdict shouted when a good track comes on, and part of British slang. It stands alone as the whole reply ("Tune!") and in writing usually takes an exclamation mark. It praises a particular song rather than music in general, and it sounds out of place anywhere but casual talk.
15
verbslangSouth Africatransitive
To behave impudently toward someone; to answer back with cheek.
She tuned her grandmother and immediately felt ashamed of herself.
If you tune the coach again, you will be off the team.
Similarsass, cheek
Note
South African slang that takes the person as its object: "Are you tuning me?" means "Are you being cheeky to me?" It belongs to casual speech. Because it shares its form with every other verb sense, context does the work: here a person, not an instrument or a radio, is what gets tuned.
16
verbslangtransitive
To adjust the parameters of singing-voice synthesis software, such as VOCALOID, to refine vocal technique or make the voice sound more human.
He tuned the VOCALOID track for weeks before releasing it.
Producers tune these synthetic voices to strip away the robotic edge.
Similartweak, adjust
Note
Fandom slang from singing-voice synthesis, where a raw track renders notes and words flatly until someone shapes it. Tuning means working on pitch and expression so the voice sounds sung rather than read out, and the skill is admired: people highly skilled at tuning Miku's voice are singled out for it. The gerund does much of the work, as in pitch tuning, expression tuning and tuning a Miku track.
17
nounobsoletecountable
A sound, note, or tone.
Pray you now, if it may the ſtand with the tune of your voices, that I may bee Conſull, I haue heere the Cuſtomarie Gowne.
c. 1608, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”
Note
Here the word still means what its source meant. Tune began as an unexplained Middle English variant of tone, from Old French ton, Latin tonus and Greek tónos, and it is a doublet of tone itself. Shakespeare's Coriolanus can speak of "the tune of your voices", meaning their sound rather than a melody. That use is obsolete; modern English says tone.
18
nounobsoleteuncountable
Order, harmony, and agreement among things or people.
Note
Concord was once a state a person could be in. John Locke, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693), says a child learns three times as much "when he is in tune" as when dragged unwillingly to the task. The abstract noun is obsolete, but its phrase lives on in the "in tune" of pitch.
19
nounobsoleteusually singular
A person's temper or frame of mind.
The master returned in a foul tune and snapped at the servants.
Finding him in a generous tune, she asked for the afternoon off.
Note
An obsolete way of naming someone's temper, now lost entirely. A modern reader would take "in a foul tune" as a remark about music, so the sense is safe only in deliberately period writing. In ordinary prose, mood or temper does the same work without the risk of being misread.

Practice

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Origin

This comes from Middle English "tune," an unexplained variant of "tone," from Old French "ton," from Latin "tonus," from Ancient Greek "tónos" ("a tone"). It is a doublet of tone, ton, and tonus.