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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

carry a tune en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (in the negative) To produce music, especially to sing, with accurate relative pitch.
    • Jenny is named for a singer and Fanny for a beautiful dancer, but mother says they're both misfits, for Jenny can't carry a tune and Fanny's kind of stiff-legged. 1903, Kate Douglas Wiggin, chapter 1, in Rebecca Of Sunnybrook Farm:
    • Emmett burst forth in song, but his comrade punched him in the side and said, “Lord Sakes, shut up, you can't carry a tune in a bucket. 1922, Jim Tully, Emmett Lawler, page 209:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
carrying a tune Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
carries a tune Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
carried a tune Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
carried a tune Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

can't carry a tune in a bucket