tempo

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As he explained to the skeleton, her tempo was against the beat, or in other words, the rhythm of her rocking and fanning conflicted with the rhythm of the music he was playing.

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Definitions (11)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Music The speed at which music is or ought to be played, often indicated on written compositions by a descriptive or metronomic direction to the performer.
  2. noun A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace: "the tempo and the feeling of modern life” (Robert L. Heilbroner).

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Examples (50)

  • Ritter tells me that, contrary to what I thought, you have kept up the tempo of the recitatives according to my indications, and that therefore the dreaded caprice of the singers, as far, at least, as the tempo was concerned, had no license. —  Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 1
  • But the tempo was the same, and so was the message; here was movement, here was drive, here was money being made. —  Murder to Go-Emma Lathen-John Putnam Thatcher 10
  • This has especially helped with the Hebrew work, as the tempo is often just as challenging as the words. —  The Martha's Vineyard Times News Headlines
  • Warner Bros 'ultimate refusal to release Stone of Sisyphus remains mysterious, however, as you hear the balladry of "Let's Take A Lifetime" or the mid-tempo original "Here with Me (A Candle For the Dark)": this is essentially the style and approach that brought the band to the middle of the road in the years prior to the —  Glide Magazine - Music :: Culture :: Life
  • Forcing turnovers and speeding up the tempo, the Mavericks closed the half on an 18-7 spurt that put them ahead 54-47. —  Newsvine - Get Smarter Here
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

rhythm ·  cadence ·  giorno ·  egli ·  prendere ·  nel ·  stato ·  molto ·  della ·  che ·  gli ·  quanto

Used in the same contextWord Family

tempo:   tempos
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, from Latin tempus, time.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Italian, from Latin tempus, time: see tense, temporal.
  2. Japanese, from Chinese tien pao, ‘heavenly recompense.’
 

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/ˈtɛmpoʊ/
by American Heritage

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