tone

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You're listening to Joanna
She has an American accent.

NGSL Rank: 1690
tone
təʊn Listen
Meanings
noun
  • a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.
    E.g. they were speaking in hushed tones
  • the general character or attitude of a place, piece of writing, situation, etc.
    E.g. my friend and I lowered the tone with our oafish ways
  • a basic interval in classical Western music, equal to two semitones and separating, for example, the first and second notes of an ordinary scale (such as C and D, or E and F sharp); a major second.
    E.g. the B flat clarinet's part is written one tone higher than the pitch required
  • the particular quality of brightness, deepness, or hue of a shade of a colour.
    E.g. stained glass in vivid tones of red and blue
  • (in some languages, such as Chinese) a particular pitch pattern on a syllable used to make semantic distinctions.
  • the normal level of firmness or slight contraction in a resting muscle.
    E.g. a reduction of muscle tone
verb
  • give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a muscle).
    E.g. push-ups help tone your abs
  • give (a monochrome picture) an altered colour in finishing by means of a chemical solution.
    E.g. it's a good idea to sepia tone the whole print first

Practise saying this word

tone
Joanna
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