Sekirov Dictionary

tonic

UK /ˈtɒnɪk/US /ˈtɑ.nɪk/

noun 7
adjective 6
verb 1
forms 5

noun7

Tonic water.
(US, old-fashioned) Any of various carbonated, non-alcoholic beverages; soda pop.
•
A substance with medicinal properties intended to restore or invigorate.
- We used to brew a tonic from a particular kind of root.
•
(figurative) Someone or something that revitalises or reinvigorates.
- Charlie ain't no Nazi / She likes to wear her leather boots / 'Cause it's exciting for the veterans / And it's a tonic for the troops. — 1978
The first note of a diatonic scale; the keynote.
The triad built on the tonic note.
A tonic element or letter; a vowel or a diphthong.

adjective6

•
Restorative; curative; or invigorating.
- The arrival of the new members had a tonic effect on the team.
Pertaining to or based upon the first note of a diatonic scale.
•
Pertaining to tension, especially of the muscles.
- Out in front and across the street, Doc noted half a dozen or so young men, not loitering or doing substances but poised and tonic, as if waiting for some standing order to take effect. — 2009
•
In a state of continuous unremitting action.
- Peter Redgrave (2007) Basal ganglia. Scholarpedia, 2(6):1825. GABAergic neurones in the basal ganglia output nuclei have high tonic firing rates (40-80 Hz).
Pertaining to the accent or stress in a word or in speech.
Of or relating to tones or sounds; specifically (phonetics, dated) being or relating to a speech sound made with tone unmixed and undimmed by obstruction, i.e. a vowel or diphthong.

verb1

•
(no longer used) To restore or invigorate.
- When all signs of effusion, dulness, pain, oegophony, and cough had disappeared he was dieted, stimulated, and tonicked. — 1887

forms

tonicked · tonicking · tonics · more tonic · most tonic

This dictionary works without the internet: on your phone · in Chrome