FluentPlex

tone

/ˈtoʊn/ noun A2
  1. A specific pitch.
  2. (in the diatonic scale) An interval of a major second.
  3. (in a Gregorian chant) A recitational melody.
  4. The character of a sound, especially the timbre of an instrument or voice.
  5. The pitch of a word's sound that distinguishes a difference in meaning, as for example in Chinese.
  6. A whining style of speaking; a kind of mournful or artificial strain of voice; an affected speaking with a measured rhythm and a regular rise and fall of the voice. (dated) · Children often read with a tone.
  7. The manner in which speech or writing is expressed, especially the aspects of diction (word choice), connotation, emotiveness, and register.
  8. The shade or quality of a colour.

Plural tones

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From the library

“As wet as ever,” said Alice in a melancholy tone: “it doesn’t seem to dry me at all.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 17 · B2
“What I was going to say,” said the Dodo in an offended tone, “was, that the best thing to get us dry would be a Caucus-race.”
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 17 · B2
“I wish I hadn’t mentioned Dinah!” she said to herself in a melancholy tone.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 21 · B2
Very soon the Rabbit noticed Alice, as she went hunting about, and called out to her in an angry tone, “Why, Mary Ann, what _are_ you doing out here?
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, p. 22 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.