Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Music A melody, especially a simple and easily remembered one.
- n. Music A song.
- n. Music Correct pitch.
- n. Music The state of being properly adjusted for pitch: a piano out of tune.
- n. Music Agreement in pitch: play in tune with the piano.
- n. Obsolete Music A musical tone.
- n. Concord or agreement; harmony: in tune with the times.
- n. Archaic Frame of mind; disposition.
- n. Electronics Adjustment of a receiver or circuit for maximum response to a given signal or frequency.
- v. Music To put into proper pitch: tuned the violin.
- v. Archaic To utter musically; sing.
- v. To adopt or adjust, especially in order to bring into harmony.
- v. Electronics To adjust (a receiver) to a desired frequency.
- v. Electronics To adjust (a circuit) so as to make it resonant with a given input signal.
- v. To adjust (an engine, for example) for maximum usability or performance.
- v. To become attuned.
- tune in Electronics To adjust a receiver to receive signals at a particular frequency or a particular program.
- tune in Slang To make or become aware or responsive: "Nobody tunes in to what anybody else is saying” ( Bruce Allen).
- tune out Electronics To adjust a receiver so as not to receive a particular signal.
- tune out To disassociate oneself from one's environment: "The average reader, used to seeing the world in three-dimensional color, tunes out” ( Carlin Romano).
- tune out To become unresponsive to; ignore: tuned out the children's screaming.
- tune up Music To adjust an instrument to a desired pitch or key.
- tune up To adjust a machine so as to put it into proper condition.
- tune up To prepare (oneself) for a specified activity.
- idiom. to the tune of To the sum or extent of: produced profits to the tune of $10 million.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In elect, to bring (two or more electric circuits) into resonance; adjust to syntony; make the natural frequency for electrical oscillations in (one circuit) equal to the frequency in another circuit by adjustments of inductance and capacity.
- In psychophysics, to adjust physiologically to respond in an individual way to determinate intensities of stimulus: said (in the passive) of the pressure, warmth, cold, and pain ‘spots’ of the skin.
- n. A sound, especially a musical tone.
- n. A well-rounded and pleasing succession of tones; an air; a melody; especially, a brief melodic piece in simple metrical form. The term is often extended to include the harmony with which such a melody is accompanied.
- n. Specifically A musical setting of a hymn, usually in four-part harmony, intended for use in public worship; a hymn-tune; chorale.
- n. Same as entr'acte. Sometimes called an acttune.
- n. Correct intonation in singing or playing on an instrument; capacity for producing tones in correct intonation; the proper construction or adjustment of a musical instrument with reference to such intonation; mutual adaptation of voices or instruments in pitch and temperament.
- n. Frame of mind; mood; temper, especially temper for the time being: as, to be in tune (to be in the right disposition, or fit temper or humor).
- n. In phrenology, one of the perceptive faculties, of which the organ is said to be situated above the external angle of the orbit of the eye, as high as the middle of the forehead, on each side of the temporal ridge. This faculty is claimed to give the perception of melody or harmony. See phrenology.
- To adjust the tones of (a voice or a musical instrument) with reference to a correct or given standard of pitch or temperament. See tuning.
- To play upon; produce melody or harmony from.
- To express by means of melody or harmony: celebrate in music.
- To give a special tone or character to; attune.
- To put into a state proper for any purpose, or adapted to produce a particular effect.
- To bring into uniformity or harmony.
- To give forth musical sound.
- To accord with some correct or given standard of pitch or temperament.
- To utter inarticulate musical sounds with the voice; sing without using words; hum a tune.
Wiktionary
- n. A melody.
- n. A song, or short musical composition.
- n. informal The act of tuning or maintenance.
- n. The state or condition of being correctly tuned.
- n. UK, slang A very good song.
- v. To modify a musical instrument so that it produces the correct pitches.
- v. To adjust a mechanical, electric or electronic device (such as a radio or a car engine) so that it functions optimally.
- v. To make more precise, intense, or effective.
- v. South Africa, slang, transitive To cheek; to be impudent towards.
GNU Webster's 1913
- 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
- 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.
- n. Order; harmony; concord; fit disposition, temper, or humor; right mood.
- v. To put into a state adapted to produce the proper sounds; to harmonize, to cause to be in tune; to correct the tone of.
- v. To give tone to; to attune; to adapt in style of music; to make harmonious.
- v. To sing with melody or harmony.
- v. To put into a proper state or disposition.
- v. To form one sound to another; to form accordant musical sounds.
- v. rare To utter inarticulate harmony with the voice; to sing without pronouncing words; to hum.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the adjustment of a radio receiver or other circuit to a required frequency
- n. the property of producing accurately a note of a given pitch
- v. adjust the pitches of (musical instruments)
- n. a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
- v. adjust for (better) functioning
Etymologies
- From Middle English tune, from Old French ton, from Latin tonus, from Ancient Greek τονός (tonos, "a tone"); see tone, of which tune is a doublet. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, variant of tone, tone; see tone. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“To what tune pleas'd his ear] _Key_ in this place seems to signify the key of a musical instrument, by which he set _Hearts to tune_.”
“With the arena thus sanctified, we embarked on a roller-coaster ride through a Gaga theme park, with her ubiquitous hits "Telephone" and "Poker Face" along with songs from her upcoming "Born This Way" album, including the title tune and a ruminative piano interlude, "Speechless.”
The Washington Post: A pyrotechnic bikini? Lady Gaga gives D.C.'s 'little monsters' what they want.
“The show gets off to a strong start with the title tune and the goofy "Funky Fried Piece Of Man Meat," but slows down later as the drama takes over.”
“But I also want to take the time to play one cut from the new CD, "Tomorrow's Children," the song, the title tune, sung by Pete Seeger.”
“He produced her new album, which will be released in September, wrote the title tune, and sings on several of the tracks. 71-year-old Mavis all but adopted my two nephews during the recording (which took place at Wilco's Chicago loft) and I'm hoping her honorary grandmother status extends to my children, Charlie and Leah.”
The Huffington Post: Danny Miller: Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy: You Are Not Alone
“HANSEN: Well, this is Paul Curreri with the title tune from his new album, and it's called "California.”
NPR: Paul Curreri And Devon Sproule: A Couple Of Solo Artists
“HANSEN: That's Paul Curreri playing "California," the title tune from his new CD.”
NPR: Paul Curreri And Devon Sproule: A Couple Of Solo Artists
“HANSEN: Devon Sproule, playing and singing in her living room the song she wrote for new CD, the title tune in fact, called "Don't Hurry for Heaven.”
NPR: Paul Curreri And Devon Sproule: A Couple Of Solo Artists
“The pair realized their goal on raucous, riff-y tracks like the title tune and “Nervous.””
“In the title tune to the 1934 musical Anything Goes, "Cole Porter says" times have changed, "since the stock market crashed in 1929, but the super rich, like John D. Rockefeller Jr.," still can hoard e ...”
Leo W. Gerard: "Anything Goes" Capitalism Destroys Companies and Workers' Lives
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tune’.
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multiple meaning words
These words seem very familiar but are awfully-versatile and oftentimes serve senses exceptionally beyond people's presumptions ...
sense, serve, please, say, profile, draw, weather, bear, project, ship, profiler, tune and 140 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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Music
lyric, rhythm, song, hymn, melody, riff, tune, chant, chorus, requiem, beat, cadence and 2 more...
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Words in which "u" is pronounced "yu"
cute, uniform, puny, municipal, butte, fume, perfume, puke, cucumber, huge, demure, cube and 87 more...
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What's That Pokémon Name?
Words used to create the names of Pokémon, which are usually portmanteaux.
bulb, dinosaur, ivy, venus, char, salamander, squirt, turtle, blast, tortoise, water, caterpillar and 525 more...
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harmony of the spheres
tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, subtonic, leading tone, progression, sonata, concerto, allegro and 247 more...
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Words grabbed from real life conversa...
If I've seen it, heard it, or marvelled at it, I'll stick it here.
cruft, ermine, redundant, shakespearean, camino, marvelous, stupendous, chagrin, shaven, sleek, smug, stillness and 325 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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alex
alex
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Addenda to the 1923 Printing of Webst...
Many of these words first came into common usage during World War I, and reflect not only the technological and scientific leaps of the early part of the 20th century, but the new experience of glo...
abri, ace, acidosis, airdrome, air fleet, airplane, air raid, airworthy, altimeter, anaphylaxis, anociassociation, anti-aircraft and 292 more...
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astrosfan's Words
pantaloons, schadenfreude, astonishing, eve, static, freeze, luscious, voluptuous, stagnant, mimic, speed, vespertillinoid and 302 more...
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the hotlist
short, sweet, epic, catchy, sassy, sexy & sizzling.
( personal list, randomness )
more:
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/...zing, epic, win, fail, hot, warp, times, clip, onyx, wonky, pwn, leet and 1493 more...
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U.S. and Them
Words that Americans pronounce differently
aluminium, tomato, herb, apricot, fillet, leisure, vase, cordial, garage, route, oregano, iraq and 17 more...
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Fife and Drum Words
For all those fifers and drummers out there... This one's for you.
Related lists are here and here.drum, fife, sticks, ears, rope-tensioned, snare, snare head, batter head, shell, rim, sling, paradiddle and 72 more...
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Technologic
The song by Daft Punk. Just add "it" to the end of these.
buy, use, break, fix, trash, change, melt, upgrade, pawn, zoom, press, snap and 49 more...
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Tunie: The Dutchman
By Michael Peter Smith
The Dutchman's not the kind of man
To keep his thumb jammed in the dam
That holds his dreams in
But that's a secret only Margaret knows
W...candle, tune, whiskey, windmill, unforgiving, captain, tugboat, wooden shoes, zuider zee, unborn, bloom, breakfast and 2 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tune.

colleen "--to tune in. Wireless Teleg., to adjust the frequency of (a wireless receiving apparatus) to that of a particular sending station fr. which messages are to be received." Dec 14, 2006