Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - tone

~1 n 1 »VOICE SHOWING FEELING« the way your voice sounds that shows how you are feeling, or what you mean  ("Why would I lie?" Nora asked in an injured tone. | She spoke in warm tones about her family. | tone of voice spoken (=used about someone's rude or angry way of speaking))  (I don't like your tone of voice. | don't take that tone with me spoken (=do not speak to me in that rude or unpleasant way)) 2 »SOUND« the quality of a sound especially the sound of a musical instrument or someone's voice  (Your piano has a beautiful tone. | in tone (=having a particular tone))  (Margaret's voice was shrill in tone. | deep-toned/even-toned/shrill-toned etc (=having a low, calm etc tone))  (My father spoke in an even-toned voice.) 3 »GENERAL FEELING/ATTITUDE« the general feeling or attitude expressed in a piece of writing, activity etc  (Sara had kept the tone of the meeting businesslike. | set the tone (=establish the general attitude or feeling of an event, activity etc))  (Unfortunately, their disagreement set the tone for the whole evening.) 4 »SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE« the degree to which something is considered polite, interesting, socially acceptable etc  (The formal setting gave a certain tone to the evening. | lower/raise the tone)  (That horrible building lowers the whole tone of the neighborhood.) 5 »COLOUR« one of the many types of a particular colour, each slightly darker, lighter, brighter etc than the next  (The entire painting was in tones of blue.)  (- see also two­tone) 6 »ELECTRONIC SOUND« a sound made by electronic equipment, such as a telephone  (Please leave a message after the tone. | dial/busy AmE engaged BrE tone (=the sound you hear on a telephone that means you can dial, it is busy etc))  (- see also dialling tone) 7 »BODY« technical how firm and strong your muscles, skin etc are  (Swimming improves your muscle tone.) 8 »MUSIC« technical the difference in pitch1 (3) between two musical notes that are separated by one key1 (4) on the piano; step1 (17) especially AmE 9 »VOICE LEVEL« technical the pitch1 (3) of someone's voice as they speak  (The Chinese language has several tones.) ~2 v to improve the strength and firmness of your skin, muscles etc  (It cleanses and tones your skin.) tone sth down phr v 1 to reduce the effect of a speech or piece or writing, so that people will not be offended  (His advisers told him to tone down his speech.) 2 to make a colour less bright tone sth/sb up phr v to make your body or part of your body feel healthier and stronger  (Aerobics really tones up your muscles.)