6. (Physiol.) Tonicity; as, arterial tone.
7. State of mind; temper; mood.
The strange situation I am in and the melancholy state of public affairs, . . . drag the mind down . . .
from a philosophical tone or temper, to the drudgery of private and public business.
Bolingbroke.
Their tone was dissatisfied, almost menacing.
W. C. Bryant. 8. Tenor; character; spirit; drift; as, the tone of his remarks was commendatory.
9. General or prevailing character or style, as of morals, manners, or sentiment, in reference to a scale
of high and low; as, a low tone of morals; a tone of elevated sentiment; a courtly tone of manners.
10. The general effect of a picture produced by the combination of light and shade, together with color
in the case of a painting; — commonly used in a favorable sense; as, this picture has tone.
Tone color. (Mus.) see the Note under def. 4, above. — Tone syllable, an accented syllable. M.
Stuart.
Tone
(Tone) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Toned ; p. pr. & vb. n. Toning.]
1. To utter with an affected tone.
2. To give tone, or a particular tone, to; to tune. See Tune, v. t.
3. (Photog.) To bring, as a print, to a certain required shade of color, as by chemical treatment.
To tone down. (a) To cause to give lower tone or sound; to give a lower tone to. (b) (Paint.) To modify,
as color, by making it less brilliant or less crude; to modify, as a composition of color, by making it more
harmonius.
Its thousand hues toned down harmoniusly.
C. Kingsley. (c) Fig.: To moderate or relax; to diminish or weaken the striking characteristics of; to soften.
The best method for the purpose in hand was to employ some one of a character and position suited to
get possession of their confidence, and then use it to tone down their religious strictures.
Palfrey. —
To tone up, to cause to give a higher tone or sound; to give a higher tone to; to make more intense; to
heighten; to strengthen.
Toned
(Toned) a. Having (such) a tone; — chiefly used in composition; as, high-toned; sweet- toned.
Toned paper, paper having a slight tint, in distinction from paper which is quite white.
Toneless
(Tone"less) a. Having no tone; unmusical.
Tong
(Tong Tonge), n. Tongue. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Tonga
(Ton"ga) n. (Med.) A drug useful in neuralgia, derived from a Fijian plant supposed to be of the
aroid genus Epipremnum.
Tongkang
(Tong"kang) n. (Naut.) A kind of boat or junk used in the seas of the Malay Archipelago.
Tongo
(Ton"go) n. The mangrove; — so called in the Pacific Islands.
