Library / English Dictionary

TUNE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The adjustment of a radio receiver or other circuit to a required frequency

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("tune" is a kind of...):

adjustment; alteration; modification (the act of making something different (as e.g. the size of a garment))

Sense 2

Meaning:

The property of producing accurately a note of a given pitch

Example:

the clarinet was out of tune

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("tune" is a kind of...):

pitch (the property of sound that varies with variation in the frequency of vibration)

Derivation:

tune (adjust the pitches of (musical instruments))

Sense 3

Meaning:

A succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence

Example:

she was humming an air from Beethoven

Synonyms:

air; line; melodic line; melodic phrase; melody; strain; tune

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("tune" is a kind of...):

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Meronyms (parts of "tune"):

musical phrase; phrase (a short musical passage)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tune"):

fanfare; flourish; tucket ((music) a short lively tune played on brass instruments)

glissando (a rapid series of ascending or descending notes on the musical scale)

roulade ((music) an elaborate run of several notes sung to one syllable)

leitmotif; leitmotiv (a melodic phrase that accompanies the reappearance of a person or situation (as in Wagner's operas))

theme song (a melody that recurs and comes to represent a musical play or movie)

signature; signature tune; theme song (a melody used to identify a performer or a dance band or radio/tv program)

idea; melodic theme; musical theme; theme ((music) melodic subject of a musical composition)

part; voice (the melody carried by a particular voice or instrument in polyphonic music)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adjust the pitches of (musical instruments)

Example:

My piano needs to be tuned

Synonyms:

tune; tune up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tune" is one way to...):

adjust; correct; set (alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

untune (cause to be out of tune)

Derivation:

tune (the property of producing accurately a note of a given pitch)

tuner (someone who tunes pianos)

tuning ((music) calibrating something (an instrument or electronic circuit) to a standard frequency)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Adjust for (better) functioning

Example:

tune the engine

Synonyms:

tune; tune up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tune" is one way to...):

adjust; correct; set (alter or regulate so as to achieve accuracy or conform to a standard)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tune"):

fine-tune; tweak (adjust finely)

service (make fit for use)

tune in (regulate (a radio or television set) in order to receive a certain station or program)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tuning ((music) calibrating something (an instrument or electronic circuit) to a standard frequency)

Credits

 Context examples: 

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.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I shall go to the piano-forte; I have not touched it since it was tuned.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Outside the air was sweet, the sun shone, and the birds sang, and it seemed as if all nature were tuned to a different pitch.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

This requires fine-tuned regulation of brain systems that enable rapid responses to changes in the environment, such as those involved in sleep, wakefulness, stress, and reward-seeking.

(Researchers identify key brain circuits for reward-seeking and avoidance behavior, National Institutes of Health)

However, esearchers compared mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from tens of thousands of people and found that mitochondria may be fine-tuned to the nucleus.

(Interplay between mitochondria and the nucleus may have implications for changing cell’s ‘batteries’, University of Cambridge)

Decreasing levels of Bmp7 along the length of the basilar papilla map result in a gradual tuning to higher frequencies.

(Hearing different frequencies, NIH)

A laser in which light is emitted by a fluorescent organic dye and which can be tuned to radiate at any of a wide range of frequencies.

(Dye Laser, NCI Thesaurus)

They eventually fine-tuned a protocol that involved 5 different growth media and 11 different factors.

(Developing Insulin-Producing Cells to Treat Diabetes, NIH)

Researchers say the migration indexes can help address a gap in scientists' knowledge about the cues birds use to fine-tune migration timing in response to climate.

(Seasonality of bird migration responds to environmental cues, NSF)

One clue is that you can zone in and out of conversations or tasks when appropriate, then naturally tune back in without missing important points or steps.

(Daydreaming Is Good: It Means You're Smart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)