tinker

[ ting-ker ]

noun

1. a mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant.
2. an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler.
3. a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades.
4. an act or instance of tinkering:

   Let me have a tinker at that motor.

5. Scot., Irish English.
   1. a Romani living in the British Isles; a Traveler.
   2. any itinerant worker.
   3. a wanderer ( def ).
   4. a beggar ( def ).
6. chub mackerel.

verb (used without object)

1. to busy oneself with a thing without useful results:

   Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop.

2. to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything.
3. to do the work of a tinker.

verb (used with object)

1. to mend as a tinker.
2. to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way.

tinker

/ ˈtɪŋkə /

noun

1. (esp formerly) a travelling mender of pots and pans
2. a clumsy worker
3. the act of tinkering
4. another name for Gypsy
5. informal.
   a mischievous child
6. any of several small mackerels that occur off the North American coast of the Atlantic

verb

1. intrfoll bywith to play, fiddle, or meddle (with machinery, etc), esp while undertaking repairs
2. to mend (pots and pans) as a tinker

Derived Forms

• ˈtinkerer, noun

Other Words From

• tin·ker·er noun
• un·tin·kered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tinker¹

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English tinkere (noun), syncopated variant of tinekere “worker in tin”

Word History and Origins

Origin of tinker¹

C13 tinkere, perhaps from tink tinkle, of imitative origin

Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with tinker , also see not worth a damn (tinker's damn) .

Example Sentences

Now, instead of getting ahead that way, marketers that excessively tinker will fall behind and lose ground on the components that need the utmost attention – analytics, first-party strategy, and customer experience.

From Search Engine Watch

You could tinker with them so they would boil but then the cops could take it away for being an ‘altered item’.

From The Daily Beast

He could spell the names of all his classmates, and he loved building with Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.

From The Daily Beast

[Laughs] KROLL: The “Tinker Stinker” I like, in that it felt like a true labeling of something that happens.

From The Daily Beast

More like used tinker toys in a world of killer apps and drones.

From The Daily Beast

Oh, sure, if it would attract a few token Republican votes, they were willing to tinker with the price tag.

From The Daily Beast

For that matter, he said, he didn't care a tinker's dam if we were; he had grub and bedding and we were welcome to both.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Giles directed an appealing glance at the tinker, but he had suddenly fallen asleep.

From Project Gutenberg

Tinker received a scimitar from the hands of Mr. Figgins, and flourished it gaily round his head.

From Project Gutenberg

Tinker hopped round him as nimbly as a tomtit or a jackdaw, and presently gave him another little taste of his steel.

From Project Gutenberg

But Tinker and his man were not at all put out by these strange demonstrations upon the part of the ladies.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dabble
• mess