■ noun
1》 a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.
↘a musical note, warble, or other sound used as a signal on a telephone or answering machine.
2》 a modulation of the voice expressing a feeling or mood.
3》 general character: trust her to lower the ~ of the conversation.
4》 (also whole ~ ) a basic interval in classical Western music, equal to two semi~s and separating, for example, the first and second notes of an ordinary scale; a major second.
5》 the particular quality of brightness, deepness, or hue of a colour.
↘the general effect of colour or of light and shade in a picture.
6》 Phonetics (in some languages, such as Chinese) a particular pitch pattern on a syllable used to make semantic distinctions.
↘(in some languages, such as English) intonation on a word or phrase used to add functional meaning.
7》 (also muscle ~ ) the normal level of firmness or slight contraction in a resting muscle.
■ verb
1》 (often ~ something up ) give greater strength or firmness to (the body or a muscle).
2》 ( ~ something down ) make something less harsh in colour.
↘make something less extreme.
3》 ( ~ with ) harmonize with in terms of colour.
4》 Photography give (a monochrome picture) an altered colour in finishing by means of a chemical solution.
Derivatives
-~d adjective
~less adjective
~lessly adverb
Origin
ME: from OFr. ton , from L. tonus , from Gk tonos 'tension, ~', from teinein 'to stretch'.