Tune
[tjuːn] or [tun]
Definition
(noun.) the adjustment of a radio receiver or other circuit to a required frequency.
(noun.) the property of producing accurately a note of a given pitch; 'he cannot sing in tune'; 'the clarinet was out of tune'.
(noun.) a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence; 'she was humming an air from Beethoven'.
(verb.) adjust the pitches of (musical instruments); 'My piano needs to be tuned'.
(verb.) adjust for (better) functioning; 'tune the engine'.
Checker: Mandy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A sound; a note; a tone.
(n.) A rhythmical, melodious, symmetrical series of tones for one voice or instrument, or for any number of voices or instruments in unison, or two or more such series forming parts in harmony; a melody; an air; as, a merry tune; a mournful tune; a slow tune; a psalm tune. See Air.
(n.) The state of giving the proper, sound or sounds; just intonation; harmonious accordance; pitch of the voice or an instrument; adjustment of the parts of an instrument so as to harmonize with itself or with others; as, the piano, or the organ, is not in tune.
(n.) Order; harmony; concord; fit disposition, temper, or humor; right mood.
(v. t.) To put into a state adapted to produce the proper sounds; to harmonize, to cause to be in tune; to correct the tone of; as, to tune a piano or a violin.
(v. t.) To give tone to; to attune; to adapt in style of music; to make harmonious.
(v. t.) To sing with melody or harmony.
(v. t.) To put into a proper state or disposition.
(v. i.) To form one sound to another; to form accordant musical sounds.
(v. i.) To utter inarticulate harmony with the voice; to sing without pronouncing words; to hum.
Editor: Oswald
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Air, melody, strain, movement.[2]. Concord, harmony.
v. a. [1]. Harmonize, accord, modulate, attune, put in tune.[2]. Sing.
Typist: Rudy
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Strain, melody, air
Edited by Francine
Definition
n. a melodious succession of notes or chords in a particular key: the relation of notes and intervals to each other causing melody: state of giving the proper sound: harmony: a melody or air: frame of mind temper.—v.t. to adjust the tones as of a musical instrument: to play upon celebrate in music: to give a certain character to.—adj. Tū′nable.—n. Tū′nableness.—adv. Tū′nably.—adj. Tune′ful full of tune or harmony: melodious: musical.—adv. Tune′fully.—n. Tune′fulness.—adj. Tune′less without tune or melody: silent.—ns. Tū′ner one who tunes or adjusts the sounds of musical instruments: one who makes music or sings: in organs an adjustable flap for altering the pitch of the tone; Tū′ning the art of bringing musical instruments into tune; Tū′ning-fork a steel two-pronged instrument designed when set in vibration to give a musical sound of a certain pitch; Tū′ning-hamm′er a tuning-wrench with hammer attachment for regulating tension in stringed instruments.—Tune up to begin to sing or play.—Change one's tune Sing another tune to alter one's attitude or one's way of talking; In tune harmonious; Out of tune inharmonious; To the tune of to the amount of.
Typed by Lena
Examples
- But in spite of their efforts to be as cheery as larks, the flutelike voices did not seem to chord as well as usual, and all felt out of tune. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The burden fell into a strain or tune as he stumped along the pavements. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He walked to the fireplace and warmed himself, humming the fag end of a tune in a rich convivial bass voice. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Let the heart swell into what discord it will, thus plays the rippling water on the prow of the ferry-boat ever the same tune. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- A woman should be able to sit down and play you or sing you a good old English tune. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- He could play 'em a tune on any sort of pot you please, so as it was iron or block tin. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- It sent the most insurrectionary tune into the world that was ever composed. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- She sometimes played tunes upon them with her fingers--minuets and marches I should think--but never moved them. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- In that case the operator tunes his instrument, or in other words adjusts his apparatus to suit the wave length of the station with which he wishes to communicate. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Insolvency, at all tunes the natural result of a spirited foreign policy, was close at hand. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Some good rousing tunes firSt. Rosamond played admirably. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in the afternoon. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- He had heard fragments of tunes and songs in the warm wind, which he knew had no existence. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He was experimenting in tunes to suit some words of his own, sometimes trying a ready-made melody, sometimes improvising. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- A flash of lightning is liable to give rise to a wave of enormous power which will set half the aerials on the earth vibrating in spite of the differences of pitch to which they are tuned. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I shall go to the piano-forte; I have not touched it since it was tuned. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- They tuned her voice to the note of torment. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Chimes are ordinarily produced mechanically by the strokes of hammers against a series of bells, tuned agreeably to a given musical scale. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Methods of tuning the instruments have been adopted which limit the influence of the currents to properly tuned receivers and in this way some degree of secrecy is attained. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Frequent tuning is necessary, because the fine adjustments are easily disturbed. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Tuning forks do not produce strong tones unless mounted on hollow wooden boxes (Fig. 175), whose size and shape are so adjusted that resonance occurs and strengthens the sound. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- A song played on tuning forks instead of on strings would be lifeless and unsatisfying because of the absence of overtones. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Fasten a stiff bristle to a tuning fork by means of wax, allowing the end of the point to rest lightly upon a piece of smoked glass. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Size and shape determine to a large degree the period of a body; for example, a short, thick tuning fork vibrates more rapidly than a tall slender fork. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- There must therefore be accurate tuning of the two instruments. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- They're beginning upstairs,' said the stranger--'hear the company-- fiddles tuning--now the harp--there they go. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
Checked by Jocelyn