signature tune

American  

noun

1. theme song.

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signature tune British  

noun

1. Also called (esp US and Canadian): theme song.  a melody used to introduce or identify a television or radio programme, a dance band, a performer, etc

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Etymology

Origin of signature tune

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

Every brood contains a minimum of three or a maximum of four of cicada species — each species with its own signature tune.

From Salon • May 16, 2024

Langston Hughes’s poems were featured on posters in my local library, and everybody knew Duke Ellington because of his signature tune, “Take the A Train,” written by Billy Strayhorn.

From New York Times • Apr. 5, 2024

Before he signed off the stage, he sang his version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “I Am The Very Model of a Modern Major-General,” a signature tune from their comic opera “The Pirates of Penzance.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2023

Ms. Lynn’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” spent only one week at No. 1 after its release in 1970, but it soon became the singer’s signature tune:

From Washington Post • Oct. 4, 2022

In the Ring, every character has his or her own leitmotif, or signature tune.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall