warning tone
Alert audible signal
A warning tone is a vocal inflection signaling displeasure, threat, or caution—the sound that tells you to back off or reconsider: There was a warning tone in her voice when she said my full name.
Parents, teachers, and authority figures deploy it to halt unwanted behavior before escalating to actual consequences.
The phrase also describes audible alerts from devices: The elevator emitted a warning tone when the doors couldn't close.
- alarmUrgent warning signal
- red alertTop emergency warning state
- sirenWailing alert device
- air raid sirenWarning horn for bombings
- alertWarning or watchfulness
beep · low battery · check engine · smoke detector · caution · heads up · danger · urgent · shrill · harsh · sharp · stern · ominous · foreboding · klaxon · buzzer · chime · ping
warning tonebackground music
Audio meant to accompany
ambient sound · elevator music · hold music · muzak · incidental music
warning, tone, warn, warns, warned, warnings, tones, toned, toning