high-tunedadj.

1603 J. Florio tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. i. xxviii. 97 Those rich and high-tuned accords, wherewith..nature hath richly graced you.

1614 P. Forbes Def. Lawful Calling 56 A sweete and high tuned Halleluiah.

1633 J. Ford Broken Heart v. ii. sig. K2 Some high tun'd poem Hereafter shall deliuer to posterity The writers glory, and his subiects triumph.

1752 True Briton 1 Nov. 253 In Frosts a Sun-shine, and in Heats a Shade: That high-tuned Harmony for which we long.

1793 G. Thompson Addr. Sentim. Reverence for Deity 20 New schemes..which..might, like Plato's commonwealth, prove impractical in the execution, because the subordinate movements are not in due concert with the high-tuned instrument.

1858 Dwight's Jrnl. Music 13 Feb. 367/2 The opera of ‘Don Giovanni’..utterly lacks in high-tuned glee.

1871 F. D. Trail Poems 104 For ever there, high-tuned above The world's discordant noise, One master-spirit speaks of love.

1904 Ainslee's 13 157/1 Some of these chapters are..harmonious and high-tuned as Celestial music.

1989 M. U. Reissland Electr. Measurem. ii. 47 We have a high tuned system.

2010 S. Pearl About Faces i. 56 Employers, kings, and generals often developed a high-tuned physiognomic instinct.

1623 W. Drummond Cypresse Groue in Flowres of Sion 58 Let one represent to himselfe the strings of an high-tuned Lut, which breaking, retire to their naturall windings.

1661 S. Pordage Mundorum Explicatio 166 Whilst others answer with a high-tun'd voyce, Rejoyce O Earth!

1701 W. Anstruther Ess., Moral & Divine v. 237 Stop, stop, my Muse..Throw by thy Lyre, and break thy high Tun'd string.

1773 Misc. Poems 46 Happy souls..to the high-tun'd cymbal sing.

1825 ‘M. Coultershoggle’ Goslington Shadow II. viii. 109 The sound of the stones on the ice was clear and loud, like a high-tuned fiddle.

1878 Revue Historique 6 123 Vulgar fellows, among which a bookseller has..such an high tuned, unmanly..voice that he puts one quite out of patience.

1904 Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 370/1 His voice to himself sounded like a very young voice, high-tuned and thin.

1925 Winslow (Arizona) Mail 9 June 6/1 The band concert last Saturday on the shop plaza, which consisted of no less than three: R. C. Abell, with his high-tuned ‘fife’ [etc.].

2010 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 30 Sept. (Green Guide) 15 It's the high-tuned nylon strings I like the most—the sound just takes you to a happy place.

1827 Harvard Reg. Dec. 307 Our high-tuned nerves then vibrate to the weakest touch.

1870 E. D. E. N. Southworth Maiden Widow vii. 121 That delicate, sensitive, high-tuned nature!

1901 Academy 2 Feb. 103/1 The more high-tuned sensitiveness of American nerves, the quicker mobility of American character.

1973 Rolling Stone 27 Sept. 31/3 There was not a hell of a lot of room for a Gonzo journalist to operate in that high-tuned atmosphere.

2000 Robesonian (Lumberton, N. Carolina) 14 Dec. 7 a/6 Your feelings are high tuned, and you might overreact to another.