tone syllable

An accented syllable. tone, v. t. [TONE, 8. ] 1. To utter in an affected tone. 2. To tune (q. v.). 1. To tone down : (1) Lit .: In painting, to soften or subdue the color of, as of a picture, so as to produce a subdued harmony of tint, and avoid all undue glare. "Until time and gas have conveniently toned down the brilliancy of the color."- London Daily Telegraph. (2) Fig .: To reduce or lower in tone; to moderate or reduce the characteristic expre ion of; to render le pronounced or decided; to soften. "Sir De Lacy having toned down his original phrases." Punch , Feb. 13, 1858. 2. To tone up : To give a higher tone or character to; to raise in tone; to make more expre ive, pronounced, or decided; to heighten, to strengthen. *tone, s. or pron . [Eng. one , with the final t of A. S. dhæt that, the neuter definite article, prefixed.] The one, corresponding to tother (q. v.). Generally with the ; as, the tone =that one. " Tone doth enforce, the other doth entice." Sir P. Sidney. pine, pit, sire, sir, marine; gō, pòt, IMG:content-1204.png:[blocks in formation] "It may be doubted whether there ever existed a human being whose mind was quite as firmly toned at eighty as at forty."-Macaulay: Hist . Eng . , ch. xiv.