Definition of "tune"

tune

/tjuːn/

noun
countable and uncountable, plural tunes
1. A melody.
2. A song, or short musical composition.
3. (informal) The act of tuning or maintenance.
4. The state or condition of being correctly tuned.
5. (obsolete) Temper; frame of mind.
6. (obsolete) A sound; a note; a tone.
  Quotations
  Pray you now, if it may the ſtand with the tune of your voices, that I may bee Conſull, I haue heere the Cuſtomarie Gowne.
  c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iii], page 12, column 2
7. (obsolete) Order; harmony; concord.
  Quotations
  A child will learn three times as much when he is in tune, as when he […] is dragged unwillingly to [his task].
  1693, [John Locke], “§72”, in Some Thoughts Concerning Education, London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], page 76
interjection
1. (UK, slang) Used to show appreciation or approval of a song.
verb
third-person singular simple present tunes, present participle tuning, simple past and past participle tuned
1. To adjust (a musical instrument) so that it produces the correct pitches.
  Quotations
  The Harpe. […] A harper with his wreſt maye tune the harpe wrongMys tunying of an Inſtrument ſhal hurt a true ſonge
  1568, William Cornishe [i.e., William Cornysh], “In the Fleete Made by Me William Cornishe otherwise Called Nyshwhete Chapelman with the Most Famose and Noble Kyng Henry the VII. His Reygne the XIX. Yere the Moneth of July. A Treatise betwene Trouth, and Information.”, in John Skelton, edited by J[ohn] S[tow], Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate, London: […] Thomas Marshe; republished as Pithy Pleasaunt and Profitable Workes of Maister Skelton, Poete Laureate to King Henry the VIIIth, London: […] C. Davis […], 1736, page 290
  She bids me hope; oh Heav'ns; ſhe pities me!And pity ſtill foreruns approching love;As Lightning does the Thunder! Tune your HarpsYe Angels to that ſound; and thou, my Heart,Make room to entertain thy flowing Joy.
  1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], Act II, page 21
  Fortune foretun'd the Dying Notes of Rome:Till I, thy Conſul ſole, conſol'd thy Doom.
  1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Tenth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: Printed for Jacob Tonson […], page 199
2. To adjust or modify (esp. a mechanical or electrical device) so that it functions optimally.
3. To adjust the frequency on a radio or TV set, so as to receive the desired channel.
4. Of faculties, senses, etc.: to adapt to or direct towards a particular target.
5. To make more precise, intense, or effective; to put into a proper state or disposition.
  Quotations
  [H]ee hath incurred the euerlaſting diſpleaſure of the King, who had euen tun'd his bounty to ſing happineſſe to him.
  c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene iii], page 246, column 2
6. To attune; to adapt in style of music; to make harmonious.
  Quotations
  For now to ſorrow must I tune my ſong,And ſet my Harpe to notes of ſaddeſt wo, […]
  c. 1630, John Milton, “The Passion”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, stanza II, page 17
7. (transitive) To give a certain tone or character to.
8. (transitive) To set (lyrics) to music.
  Quotations
  Ginsberg sang some poems from William Blake which he had "tuned".
  1977 April 9, Charley Shively, “Ginsberg Triumphant”, in Gay Community News, page 12
9. (obsolete) To sing with melody or harmony.
  Quotations
  To ſee great Hercules whipping a Gigge,And profound Sallomon to tune a Iigge.
  c. 1595–1596 (date written), W. Shakespere [i.e., William Shakespeare], A Pleasant Conceited Comedie Called, Loues Labors Lost. […] (First Quarto), London: […] W[illiam] W[hite] for Cut[h]bert Burby, published 1598; republished as Shakspere’s Loves Labours Lost (Shakspere-Quarto Facsimiles; no. 5), London: W[illiam] Griggs, […], [Act IV, scene iii]
  Fountains and yee, that warble, as ye flow,Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praiſe.
  1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 195-196
10. (transitive, South Africa, slang) To be impudent towards; to cheek.
11. (fandom slang) to adjust the parameters of singing voice synthesis software such as VOCALOID (in order to achieve certain singing techniques, increase the human quality of the voice, etc.)
  Quotations
  […] Those who are highly skilled in manipulating the Vocaloid technology—e.g., tuning Miku's singing voices—arrange existing […]
  2017 August 10, Keisuke Yamada, Supercell's Supercell featuring Hatsune Miku, Bloomsbury Publishing USA
  LOLA's voice is used simply to render basic notes and words with no pitch or expression tuning applied.
  2018 December 6, Nina Sun Eidsheim, The Race of Sound: Listening, Timbre, and Vocality in African American Music, Duke University Press
  This compiling of a track holds many parallels with “tuning” a Miku track, […]
  2020, Janice L. Waldron, Stephanie Horsley, Kari K. Veblen, The Oxford Handbook of Social Media and Music Learning, Oxford University Press, USA, page 522

Definition of "tune"

tune

noun

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interjection

verb

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