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# tone

noun (a tone, tones; tone); verb (tone, tones, toned, toning)

«tone» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Tone is the way something sounds, like a voice that is kind, angry or bossy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m1)
2. A tone is a single musical sound or a beep, like a phone's dial tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m2)
3. A tone is a shade of a colour, lighter or darker. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m3)
4. The tone of a piece of writing is its mood or feeling. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m4)
5. To tone (or tone up) muscles is to make them firmer with exercise; to «tone down» is to make something less strong. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m5)

### In the lessons

In English lessons, pupils study the tone of a story or poem: happy, sad, spooky or serious. In manners lessons, «tone of voice» matters: the same words can be polite or rude. In art, tones are light and dark shades. In music, a tone is a step between notes. Phrases: «tone of voice», «don't use that tone», «tone down».

### Examples

- Don't speak to me in that tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x1)
- Her tone was kind and gentle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x2)
- The poem has a sad tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x3)
- Leave a message after the tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x4)
- The artist used different tones of blue. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x5)
- Please tone down the music; it's too loud. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x6)
- Swimming tones your muscles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x7)
- You can tell he's joking from his tone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x8)
- Finally some one asked, in a sympathetic tone: [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#x9)

### Note

Countable (a tone, tones) and uncountable (tone of voice). Do not confuse «tone» with «tune» (a melody). «Tone deaf» means not able to hear the difference between musical notes; it also means not noticing how others feel.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «tone» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«tone» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tone.html) on Mova free.