tone

Universal Words noun, verb noun of voice 1 [C] the quality of sb's voice, especially expressing a particular emotion: speaking in hushed / low / clipped / measured tones * a light / dry / sharp / conversational tone * a tone of bitterness / command / surprise * Don't speak to me in that tone of voice (= in that unpleasant or critical way). * There's no need to take that tone with me-it's not my fault we're late. character / atmosphere 2 [sing.] the general character and attitude of sth such as a piece of writing, or the atmosphere of an event: The overall tone of the book is gently nostalgic. * She set the tone for the meeting with a firm statement of company policy. * Trust you to lower the tone of the conversation (= for example by telling a rude joke). * The article was moderate in tone and presented both sides of the case. * The newspaper said voters had been turned off by the negative tone of the campaign. of sound 3 [C] the quality of a sound, especially the sound of a musical instrument or one produced by electronic equipment: the full, rich, tone of the trumpet * the volume and tone controls on a car stereo colour 4 [C] a shade of a colour: a carpet in warm tones of brown and orange of muscles / skin 5 [U] how strong and firm your muscles or skin are: how to improve your muscle / skin tone on telephone 6 [C] a sound heard on a telephone line: (BrE) the dialling tone * (AmE) the dial tone * Please speak after the tone (= for example as an instruction on an answering machine). in music 7 (BrE) (AmE whole step) [C] one of the five longer INTERVALS in a musical scale, for example the INTERVAL between C and D or between E and Fsharp compareSEMITONE, STEPn.(10) phonetics 8 [C] the PITCH (= how high or low a sound is) of a syllable in speaking: a rising / falling tone -toned 9 (in adjectives) having the type of tone mentioned: a bright-toned soprano * olive-toned skin verb muscles / skin 1 [VN] ~ sth (up) to make your muscles, skin, etc. firmer and stronger: Massage will help to tone up loose skin under the chin. * a beautifully toned body colour 2 [V] ~ (in) (with sth) (BrE) to match the colour of sth: The beige of his jacket toned (in) with the cream shirt. PHRASALVERBS tone sth<->down 1 to make a speech, an opinion, etc. less extreme or offensive: The language of the article will have to be toned down for the mass market. 2 to make a colour less bright