I. tune 1 S3 /tjuːn $ tuːn/ BrE AmE noun
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: tone ]
1 . [countable] a series of musical notes that are played or sung and are nice to listen to SYN melody :
That’s a nice tune.
She sang some old classics and a few new tunes.
to the tune of something (=using the same tune as another song)
The song was sung to the tune of "Amazing Grace".
2 . in tune playing or singing the correct musical note:
They sang perfectly in tune.
3 . out of tune playing or singing higher or lower than the correct musical note:
Greg’s bass guitar was out of tune.
4 . in tune with somebody/something, out of tune with somebody/something able or unable to realize, understand, or agree with what someone else thinks or wants:
The industry is changing in tune with changing demand.
5 . to the tune of $1,000/£2 million etc informal used to emphasize how large an amount or number is:
Canada is funding the programme to the tune of $30 million.
⇨ call the tune at ↑ call 1 (9), ⇨ change your tune at ↑ change 1 (14), ⇨ dance to sb’s tune at ↑ dance 2 (4), ⇨ ↑ fine-tune , ↑ signature tune
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ play a tune
He played a tune on the piano.
▪ hum/whistle a tune
She was humming a little tune to herself.
▪ write/compose a tune
They wrote many great tunes together in the 80s.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tune
▪ catchy/memorable (=one that is easy to remember)
His songs have simple words and catchy tunes.
▪ the theme tune/signature tune (=the tune at the beginning or end of a television programme etc)
the theme tune from the movie 'Titanic'
▪ a show tune (=a tune from a musical)
Broadway show tunes
▪ a dance tune
The DJ played some bouncy dance tunes.
▪ a hymn tune
a rousing hymn tune
II. tune 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to make a musical instrument play at the right ↑ pitch :
Someone’s coming tomorrow to tune the piano.
2 . ( also tune up ) to make small changes to an engine so that it works as well as possible
3 . to make a radio or television receive broadcasts from a particular place
tune something to something
The radio was tuned to a classical station.
⇨ stay tuned at ↑ stay 1 (8)
4 . finely/highly tuned finely tuned feelings, senses, or systems are extremely sensitive and able to react quickly
be tuned to something
a species finely tuned to life in the desert
tune in phrasal verb
1 . to watch or listen to a broadcast on radio or television
tune in to
People get their information by tuning in to foreign radio stations.
More than 150 million Americans tuned in to watch the final episode.
2 . ( also be tuned in ) to realize or understand what is happening or what other people are thinking
tune in to
Try to tune in to your partner’s needs.
The company aims to be more tuned in to customer needs.
tune out phrasal verb informal
to ignore or stop listening to someone or something:
A bored child may simply tune out.
tune somebody/something ↔ out
I learned to tune out the background noise.
tune up phrasal verb
1 . when musicians tune up, they prepare their instruments to play at the right ↑ pitch
tune something ↔ up
The band were tuning up their guitars.
2 . tune something ↔ up to make small changes to an engine so that it works as well as possible