| 释义 |
ˈundertone, n.
Also under-tone, under tone.
[under-1 5 c, 9, 9 b, 10 c.]
1. A low or subdued tone:
a. of utterance.
1762D. Garrick Let. 24 Jan. (1831) I. 135 It naturally gives him a slow tremulous under-tone of voice. 1806T. S. Surr Winter in Lond. II. 44 ‘'Tis very strange!’ said Edward in an under tone of voice. 1819Keats Lamia ii. 281 ‘Fool!’ said the sophist, in an under-tone, Gruff with contempt. 1853Kingsley Hypatia xv, All this was uttered rapidly, and in a wheedling undertone. 1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 79 Hearing a low, monotonous..voice chanting a dirge in an undertone.
b. of sound. Also attrib.
1833[see unblissful a.]. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. vii. (1856) 52 With it came a strange undertone accompaniment, a not discordant drone. 1855Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxiii, If beyond the silence we listen for the faintest undertones, we detect a stifled, continuous hum of insects.
2. fig.
a. An underlying tone (of feeling, etc.); a subordinate or unobtrusive element; an undercurrent.
1861Tulloch Eng. Purit. II. 211 The undertone of sentiment in the Elizabethan Church. 1879Farrar St. Paul II. 180 Throughout all these high reasonings..there runs an undertone of controversy.
b. A subdued or underlying tone of colour.
1891Cent. Dict. s.v., There was a subtle undertone of yellow through the picture.
c. The general basis of Exchange or market dealings in any stock or commodity.
1897Daily News 2 Feb. 3/7 Stocks were irregular... The undertone was firm. 1902Times 29 July 11/2 Maize has had a weak undertone during the entire session.
3. A tone (of health, etc.) below the normal.
1872H. W. Beecher Yale Lect. Preaching viii. 220, I have sometimes had a whole month of undertone, because I let go and ran clear down.
Hence ˈundertone v. trans., to accompany as an undertone; ˈundertoned ppl. a.1, expressed in an undertone.
1861Meredith Evan Harrington xxx, His hasty under⁓toned questions. 1873W. S. Mayo Never Again xi. 145 Low harmonics Undertone the music's roll. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. vii. lvi, She uttered this with the same undertoned decision. |