All 18 Uses of
tone
in
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- "But damn it, Norah," he said, his voice low and harsh, a tone he had never used before.
p. 51..0 (definition 1)tone = the general feeling, mood, or attitude of something
- At his tone, fear rushed through her; she could lose him too.
p. 88..2 (definition 1)
- "It's scary," Kay said, but her tone was calm, more disapproving than dismayed, the same voice she might have used to talk about someone's divorce.
p. 127..7 (definition 1)
- She used the same tone, but to her the unrest seemed deeply personal, a reflection of what had been going on within her heart for years.
p. 127..8 (definition 1)
- She thought of the elementary school, just a mile away, the order there and the ordinariness, and she thought of Kay Marshall's disapproving tone, and yet she kept going.
p. 130..8 (definition 1) *
- I mean your tone.
p. 155..9 (definition 1)
- His tone was formal.
p. 169..9 (definition 1)
- It made her sad, because he spoke of photography as he had spoken once of medicine, of their marriage, a language and tone that evoked the lost past and filled her with longing.
p. 175..2 (definition 1)
- Her tone, when she answered, was cool, clipped.
p. 212..1 (definition 1)
- When he spoke again his tone had softened, though a muscle still worked in his face.
p. 246..3 (definition 1)
- He pushed up on his elbows then, alerted by her somber tone.
p. 277..4 (definition 1)
- "I don't think I'm anyone," she said, but his tone had startled her and she dried her tears, grew tougher and more distant.
p. 282..2 (definition 1)
- "Well, I can certainly arrange that," David answered, his tone dangerously cool.
p. 301..3 (definition 1)
- "Hey, you're starting to scare me," she said, trying to keep her tone light.
p. 353..3 (definition 1)
Uses with a very common or rare meaning:
- And the doctor, dutiful, had recited the symptoms he'd memorized from the text: flaccid muscle tone, delayed growth and mental development, possible heart complications, early death.†
p. 16..9 (definition 2)
- She heard his voice before she saw him, another tone, slightly lower than David's and slightly more nasal, with a neutral northern accent; crisp air, edged with snow, floated into the room with every syllable.†
p. 179..4 (definition 2)
- When she'd hung up, Paul stood alone for a moment, listening to the dial tone.†
p. 212..3 (definition 2)
- Breathing, skin tone, fingers and toes.†
p. 399..5 (definition 2) *
Definitions:
-
(1) (tone as in: the tone of the essay) the general feeling, mood, or attitude of something -- especially of something said or written
-
(2) (meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) See a comprehensive dictionary for the many other common and less common meanings of tone including:
- a quality of sound, music, or voice
- a quality of color
- a quality of muscles seen after exercise, or the act of exercising to create that quality
- signals from a telephone
The expression "tone down", means to make something less forceful.