Meaning of tune In English

• 0 a series of musical notes, especially one that is pleasant and easy to remember:

  • He was humming a tune as he dried the dishes.

  • a theme tune

  • That's a very catchy tune (= easy to remember and pleasant).

  • The piano is out of tune.

• 1 If you are in tune with people or ideas, you understand or agree with them, and if you are out of tune with them, you do not:

  • Much of his success comes from being in tune with what his customers want.

  • Her theories were out of tune with the scientific thinking of the time.

• 2 to the stated amount:

  • The City Council had financed the new building to the tune of over four million pounds.

• 3 a tune-up

• 4 to change a part of a musical instrument so that the instrument produces the correct sounds when played:

  • Get into the habit of tuning your guitar every day before you practise.

  • She tuned (up) her violin before the concert.

• 5 to move the controls on a radio, television, etc. so that it receives programmes broadcast from a particular station:

  • Press this button and the video will automatically tune itself to the next channel.

  • His radio is constantly tuned to KROQ-FM, the local rock station.

• 6 to make slight changes to an engine so that it works as well as possible:

  • The engine needs tuning, but there's nothing wrong with the car.

  • Could you tune (up) the engine for me, please?

• 7 a series of musical notes, esp. one that is pleasant and easy to remember; a melody:

  • That’s a very pretty tune.

• 8 the state of being adjusted to the correct pitch (= degree to which a musical note is high or low) :

  • This piano is out of tune (= the notes are too high or low).

  • Paul just can’t sing in tune (= with correctly produced notes).

• 9 to adjust a musical instrument so the sounds produced are the correct pitch (= degree to which the sound is high or low):

  • Tune your guitar before you practice.

• 10 to move the controls on a radio or television set so that it receives programs broadcast from a particular station:

  • Tune your radio to 88.3 FM.

• 11 to change the setting of particular parts of an engine so that it works as well as possible:

  • The engine needs tuning.

• 12 if a person or organization is in tune with people or ideas, they are able to understand them:

  • These new products are in tune with the requirements of a younger market.

  • His approach to HR is in tune with the new management policies.

• 13 used to talk about how much something costs:

  • The organization is funded by the UN to the tune of $30 million.

  • The company is in debt to the tune of several million Euros.

• 14 to make small improvements to something so that it is as good as possible for a particular purpose:

  • The project deals with tuning and optimising database performance for a leading UK charity.

  • They need time to tune the launch of this product.

  • They provide finely tuned teaching support appropriate to pupils' individual needs.