tinker
a mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant.
an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler.
a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades.
an act or instance of tinkering: Let me have a tinker at that motor.
Scot., Irish English.
to busy oneself with a thing without useful results: Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop.
to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything.
to do the work of a tinker.
to mend as a tinker.
to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way.
Origin of tinker
1Other words from tinker
- tin·ker·er, noun
- un·tin·kered, adjective
Words Nearby tinker
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use tinker in a sentence
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.
How you can embrace paid search automation to maximize outcomes | Matt Mierzejewski | February 3, 2022 | Search Engine WatchYou could tinker with them so they would boil but then the cops could take it away for being an ‘altered item’.
Tales of a Jailhouse Gourmet: How I learned to Cook in Prison | Daniel Genis | June 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe could spell the names of all his classmates, and he loved building with Lincoln Logs and tinker Toys.
The Crossword Puzzle Turns 100: The ‘King of Crossword’ on Its Strange History | Kevin Fallon | December 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST[Laughs] KROLL: The “tinker Stinker” I like, in that it felt like a true labeling of something that happens.
‘The League’ Roundtable: The Cast Dishes on the Funniest Show You’re Not Watching | Marlow Stern | November 19, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTMore like used tinker toys in a world of killer apps and drones.
Obama’s 2012 Campaign Prepped for Disaster. Obamacare Didn’t. | Lloyd Green | October 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
Oh, sure, if it would attract a few token Republican votes, they were willing to tinker with the price tag.
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.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairMr. Giles directed an appealing glance at the tinker, but he had suddenly fallen asleep.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles Dickenstinker received a scimitar from the hands of Mr. Figgins, and flourished it gaily round his head.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge Hemyngtinker hopped round him as nimbly as a tomtit or a jackdaw, and presently gave him another little taste of his steel.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge HemyngBut tinker and his man were not at all put out by these strange demonstrations upon the part of the ladies.
Jack Harkaway's Boy Tinker Among The Turks | Bracebridge Hemyng
British Dictionary definitions for tinker
/ (ˈtɪŋkə) /
(esp formerly) a travelling mender of pots and pans
a clumsy worker
the act of tinkering
Scot and Irish another name for Gypsy
British informal a mischievous child
any of several small mackerels that occur off the North American coast of the Atlantic
(intr foll by with) to play, fiddle, or meddle (with machinery, etc), esp while undertaking repairs
to mend (pots and pans) as a tinker
Origin of tinker
1Derived forms of tinker
- tinkerer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with tinker
In addition to the idiom beginning with tinker
- tinker with
also see:
- not worth a damn (tinker's damn)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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