tone

noun

1. A specific pitch.
2. (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
3. (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
4. The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
5. The pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
6. (dated)A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice.

   “Children often read with a tone.”

7. The manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.

   “Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.”

8. (obsolete)State of mind; temper; mood.

   “c. 1714 (undated), Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke, letter to Alexander Pope The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, […] drag the mind down […] from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.”

9. The shade or quality of a colour.

   “We make crude visual distinctions and effectively meaningless categorizations based on average skin tones, such as black or white.”

10. The favourable effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, or of colours.

    “This picture has tone.”

11. The definition and firmness of a muscle or organ; see also: tonus.
12. The state of a living body or of any of its organs or parts in which the functions are healthy and performed with due vigor.
13. Normal tension or responsiveness to stimuli.
14. (slang)a gun

    “But nigga don't step wrong, cuz 8ball keep a tone”

    “M.A.C.T.D.O.G got the tone so hoe you know it's on”

    “Got the tone to ya head yo life flashing right front your eyes”

15. (figuratively)The general character, atmosphere, mood, or vibe (of a situation, place, etc.).

    “Her rousing speech gave an upbeat tone to the rest of the evening.”

    “Mr O'Brien confirmed the warning from the council was based on the fact that the structure the mural was painted on was not a temporary one and on the claim that it changes the tone of the street and impacts on the area.”

    “Manuel expects that once 2 St. Clair West is done it will change the tone of the neighbourhood.”

    “"What struck me most was not necessarily what was said but ... the tone of the room, ... the fear and anxiety that people have for their family members who are currently in the grip of addiction," Green said.”

16. (figuratively)The quality of being respectable or admirable.

    “"I am going to raise the tone of the business. That's wot I want you for. To raise the tone of the business."”

    “The teaching we have had of late has lowered the tone of Christianity, as the remarks by the two gentlemen who preceded me will attest; and, instead of producing stalwart manhood, it has generated a brood of mountebanks. Give us a pure Gospel or a vacant pulpit!”

    “But Mr Fagan said the tone of the street was brought down by the presence of people he termed "the Gatwickians" — residents of a rooming house called the Gatwick Private Hotel.”

    “But for anyone hoping that what proved to be a brief two-way female Tory leadership race might have raised the tone of British politics—currently at an all-time low after the vicious backroom machinations of Brexit referendum—the news wasn't promising.”

    “That story is replicated wherever there is a brightly decorated house and a neighbour who cares about the tone of the street.”

verb

1. (transitive)to give a particular tone to
2. (transitive)to change the colour of
3. (transitive)to make (something) firmer
4. (transitive)to utter with an affected tone.

pron

1. (dialectal)the one (of two)

name

1. A male given name, a short form of Anthony/Antony
2. A river in Somerset, England, which flows into the River Parrett.