(linguistics) a pitch or change in pitch of the voice that serves to distinguish words in tonal languages; "the Beijing dialect uses four tones"
the quality of something (an act or a piece of writing) that reveals the attitudes and presuppositions of the author; "the general tone of articles appearing in the newspapers is that the government should withdraw"; "from the tone of her behavior I gathered that I had outstayed my welcome"
a steady sound without overtones; "they tested his hearing with pure tones of different frequencies"
a musical interval of two semitones
the quality of a person's voice; "he began in a conversational tone"; "he spoke in a nervous tone of voice"
give a healthy elasticity to; "Let's tone our muscles"
change to a color image; "tone a photographic image"
change the color or tone of; "tone a negative"
vary the pitch of one's speech
utter monotonously and repetitively and rhythmically; "The students chanted the same slogan over and over again"
an improbable and unexpected victory; "the biggest upset since David beat Goliath"
turn from an upright or normal position; "The big vase overturned"; "The canoe tumped over"
cause to overturn from an upright or normal position; "The cat knocked over the flower vase"; "the clumsy customer turned over the vase"; "he tumped over his beer"
lacking enlightenment or knowledge or culture; "this benighted country"; "benighted ages of barbarism and superstition"; "the dark ages"; "a dark age in the history of education"
overtaken by night or darkness; "benighted (or nighted) travelers hurrying toward home"