tone

Everyday

1. Tone is the way something sounds, like a voice that is kind, angry or bossy. tree →
2. A tone is a single musical sound or a beep, like a phone's dial tone. tree →
3. A tone is a shade of a colour, lighter or darker. tree →
4. The tone of a piece of writing is its mood or feeling. tree →
5. To tone (or tone up) muscles is to make them firmer with exercise; to «tone down» is to make something less strong. tree →

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 →
• Her tone was kind and gentle. tree →
• The poem has a sad tone. tree →
• Leave a message after the tone. tree →
• The artist used different tones of blue. tree →
• Please tone down the music; it's too loud. tree →
• Swimming tones your muscles. tree →
• You can tell he's joking from his tone. tree →
• Finally some one asked, in a sympathetic tone: tree →

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.