tonick

Adjective (1)

tonic (comparative more tonic, superlative most tonic)

1. 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, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage, published 2010, page 316
2. Restorative; curative; or invigorating.
   • The arrival of the new members had a tonic effect on the team.
3. 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).

Adjective (2)

tonic (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to or based upon the first note of a diatonic scale.
2. Pertaining to the accent or stress in a word or in speech.
3. 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.

See all 14 meanings of tonic