tune

1 of 2

noun

ˈtün 

ˈtyün

1

a

: a pleasing succession of musical tones : melody

b

: a dominant theme

2

: correct musical pitch or consonance

—used chiefly in the phrases in tune and out of tune

3

a

: agreement, harmony

in tune with the times

b

: general attitude : approach

changed his tune when the going got rough

c

archaic : a frame of mind : mood

4

: amount, extent

custom-made to the tune of $40 to $50 apiece

—Amer. Fabrics

5

a

: manner of utterance : intonation

specifically : phonetic modulation

b

archaic : quality of sound : tone

tune

2 of 2

verb

tuned; tuning

transitive verb

1

: to adjust in musical pitch or cause to be in tune

tuned her guitar

2

a

: to bring into harmony : attune

b

: to adjust for precise functioning

—often used with up

tune up an engine

c

: to make more precise, intense, or effective

3

: to adjust with respect to resonance at a particular frequency: such as

a

: to adjust (a radio or television receiver) to respond to waves of a particular frequency

—often used with in

b

: to establish radio contact with

tune in a directional beacon

4

: to adjust the frequency of the output of (a device) to a chosen frequency or range of frequencies

also : to alter the frequency of (radiation)

intransitive verb

1

: to become attuned

2

: to adjust a radio or television receiver to respond to waves of a particular frequency

Synonyms

Noun

• air
• lay
• melody
• song
• strain
• warble

Examples of tune in a Sentence

Noun

hummed a little tune while I sorted the laundry

your negative assessment of the restaurant seems to be in tune with the opinions of the critics

Verb

The piano needs to be tuned.

We tuned our bikes before the road trip.

The mechanic tuned the engine.

The copilot tuned the radio to hear the message.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But his emphasis on a shared Chinese identity is increasingly out of tune with mainstream sentiment in Taiwan, where less than 3% of the population now identify primarily as Chinese, and under 10% support an immediate or eventual unification. —Nectar Gan, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024

Collaborative playlists are the modern day, digital version of the mixtape and burned CD that generations past used to share great tunes with the people in their lives. —USA TODAY, 10 Apr. 2024

Cheery new jack swing tunes played on invisible speakers. —Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024

Some college presidents and leaders appear to be changing their tune on anti-Israel protesters on campus, with at least three colleges expelling, warning or suspending students for taking part in disruptive protests viewed as antisemitic in the last few days alone, Fox News Digital has found. —Emma Colton, Fox News, 7 Apr. 2024

The characters would be extremely annoyed and then change their tune when her shrewd legal mind repeatedly got them out of scrapes. —Emily Yahr, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024

Instead of pleading with a potential mistress not to take her man, Beyoncé's take on the tune lands more as a warning than an emotional plea. —Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 4 Apr. 2024

Fast forward to the 4:47 mark to listen to the tune. —Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024

He’s never covered a Lucinda Williams tune, and this is a great one to start with. —Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024

Verb

And be sure to tune into The Excerpt later today for a special episode as USA Today Washington Bureau Chief and Bestselling Author Susan Page sits down with USA TODAY executive editor for politics, Caren Bohan, to talk about her new book, The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 11 Apr. 2024

Beginning tomorrow, April 7, her fave number will also become the channel to tune into via SiriusXM when Channel 13 (Taylor’s Version) launches, where the station will broadcast her songs and fans’ stories about Swift through May 7. —Althea Legaspi, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2024

Some researchers have been exploring new ways to deliver contraception—microneedles, for instance, or even microchip technology that might allow women to remotely tune their birth control. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 3 Apr. 2024

The latter service also just added the YES Network so that subscribers can tune into New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games. —Chris Welch, The Verge, 28 Mar. 2024

Helping us fine tune our relationships with ourselves. —Jasmine Browley, Essence, 26 Mar. 2024

For serious students of the game, the offseason is typically dedicated to tuning up the player’s weak points. —Jordan Ruttert, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024

The mill has been tuned and outfitted with a new exhaust and turbochargers. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 27 Mar. 2024

Poshmark has added about 100 million listings to the database and continues to add more to fine tune the technology. —Byjohn Kell, Fortune, 26 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English tune, tuin, tewne "musical sound, melody, key of a musical composition," borrowed from Anglo-French tun, ton, tuen tone entry 1

Note: In Middle English tune is effectively a variant of tone, but both forms are irregular outcomes of their Anglo-French sources (see note at tone entry 1). In the case of tune, the vowel nucleus seems to have fallen together with the outcomes of the French diphthong ui, as in june and puny.

Verb

derivative of tune entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 5b

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Phrases Containing tune

• auto-tune
• call the tune
• change one's tune
• dance to someone's tune
• dance to the tune of (someone)
• fine-tune
• he who pays the piper calls the tune
• in tune
• out of tune
• show tune
• sing a different tune
• to the tune of
• tune in
• tune out
• tune-up

Kids Definition

tune

1 of 2 noun

ˈt(y)ün 

1

: a succession of pleasing musical tones : melody

2

: correct musical pitch or consonance

the piano was not in tune

3

: agreement sense 1b, harmony

in tune with the times

4

: general attitude

changed their tune after reading the report

tune

2 of 2 verb

tuned; tuning

1

: to adjust in musical pitch

tuned my guitar

the orchestra was tuning up

2

: to come or bring into harmony

3

: to adjust a radio or television so that it receives clearly

—often used with in

4

: to put (as an engine) in good working order

—often used with up