tuned

1. 1
   adjective

   Brought to the correct pitch or resonance through careful adjustment.

   Like dialing a knob until a fuzzy radio station comes through crystal clear.

   The technician handed back a perfectly tuned cello.

   Once tuned, the antenna picked up the distant signal clearly.

   Similarcalibrated, adjusted

   Oppositeuntuned

   Note

   Here the word names a condition rather than an action: wind chimes whose notes almost make a melody, a cello ready to play. To tell it from the past participle, ask whether anyone is doing the tuning. In a tuned cello nobody is; in the cello was tuned this morning, someone did. As an adjective it sits before a noun and takes degree adverbs, as in perfectly tuned.

2. 2
   verb

   Past tense and past participle of tune.

   The orchestra tuned their instruments as the lights dimmed.

   Mechanics tuned the engine to run more efficiently.

   Note

   One spelling does double duty for a regular verb. It is the simple past (they tuned the piano) and the past participle after have or be (it has been tuned; it was tuned last week). Every use of tune carries over: an engine tuned to run smoothly, a radio tuned to a channel, ears tuned to a particular sound. When it describes a settled state, it becomes the adjective for pitched things.

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