[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/tone.html)

[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [The school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/) / tone

[← T](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/T/)

# tone

«tone» in Mova's school dictionary: **the way something sounds, like a voice that is kind…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

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

### meaning for a pupil

1) Tone is the way something sounds, like a voice that is kind, angry or bossy. [tree →](https://md.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://md.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://md.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://md.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://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/#m5)

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

### In the corpora

- [Companies update their bots, so a bot's tone and "personality" can change.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/ai/8-asking-well-and-knowing-when-to-stop/17/)
- [Some border collies have learned the names of over a thousand toys, but most dogs understand tone of voice more than exact words.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/193-how-a-dog-thinks-smells-sounds-and-faces/16/)
- [We write what you hear in pinyin, with little tone marks showing whether the voice stays high, rises, dips or falls.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/1-hello-and-goodbye-at-the-gate/1/)
- [nǎr (where?) dips and nàr (there) falls; only the tone tells the two apart.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/1-hello-and-goodbye-at-the-gate/19/)
- [mǎi (dipping) is to buy and mài (falling) is to sell; only the tone tells these opposites apart.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/2-the-four-tones/15/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tone» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tone/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.