tun

n. [ AS. tunne. See Ton a weight. ] 1. A large cask; an oblong vessel bulging in the middle, like a pipe or puncheon, and girt with hoops; a wine cask. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Brewing) A fermenting vat. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A certain measure for liquids, as for wine, equal to two pipes, four hogsheads, or 252 gallons. In different countries, the tun differs in quantity. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Com.) A weight of 2, 240 pounds. See Ton. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. An indefinite large quantity. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

A tun of man in thy large bulk is writ. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A drunkard; -- so called humorously, or in contempt. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Zool.) Any shell belonging to Dolium and allied genera; -- called also tun-shell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The Opuntia Tuna. See Prickly pear, under Prickly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Tunny. ] 1. (Zool.) Any one of several species of large oceanic fishes belonging to the mackerel family Scombridae, especially the bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus, formerly Orcynus thynnus or Albacora thynnus), called also the common tunny or great tunny, a native of the Mediterranean Sea and of temperate parts of the Atlantic Ocean. It sometimes weighs a thousand pounds or more, and is caught commercially in large quantity for use as food; -- also called, especially in Britain, tunny. It is also one of the favorite fishes used by the Japanese in preparing sushi. On the American coast, especially in New England, it is sometimes called the horse mackerel. Another well-known species is the yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) of warm seas. the See Illust. of Horse mackerel, under Horse. The little tunny (Gymnosarda alletterata) of the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and the long-finned tunny, or albacore (Thunnus alalunga) (see Albacore), are related species of smaller size. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. The bonito, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. the meat of the tuna, used as food; -- also called tuna fish. [ PJC ]

a. Capable of being tuned, or made harmonious; hence, harmonious; musical; tuneful. -- Tun"a*ble*ness, n. -- Tun"a*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

And tunable as sylvan pipe or song. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a large, protuberant belly, or one shaped like a tun; pot-bellied. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A tunnel. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ Russ. ] One of the level or undulating treeless plains characteristic of northern arctic regions in both hemispheres; the term is most commony associated with the arctic plains of Siberia. The tundras mark the limit of arborescent vegetation; they consist of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil, but support a dense growth of mosses and lichens, and dwarf herbs and shrubs, often showy-flowered. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Tuned p. pr. & vb. n. Tuning. ] 1. To put into a state adapted to produce the proper sounds; to harmonize, to cause to be in tune; to correct the tone of; as, to tune a piano or a violin. “ Tune your harps.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give tone to; to attune; to adapt in style of music; to make harmonious. [ 1913 Webster ]

For now to sorrow must I tune my song. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To sing with melody or harmony. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fountains, and ye, that warble, as ye flow,
Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To put into a proper state or disposition. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]