tinker

American  

[ting-ker] / ˈtɪŋ kər /

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.

   4. a beggar.

6. chub mackerel.

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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 British  

/ 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

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verb

1. to play, fiddle, or meddle (with machinery, etc), esp while undertaking repairs

2. to mend (pots and pans) as a tinker

tinker Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tinker

• not worth a damn (tinker's damn)

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Other Word Forms

• tinkerer noun
• untinkered adjective

Etymology

Origin of tinker

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

Example Sentences

The oil giant paid the smaller company $320 million over a decade to tinker with the genetic makeup of algae to try to distill enough oil to make the venture technically viable.

From The Wall Street Journal

And then, as coaches, what we do is we start tinkering.

From BBC

After tinkering more, he landed on a story he liked.

From The Wall Street Journal

Spalding has all the attributes of a future entrepreneur and loves tinkering with cars.

From Los Angeles Times

They went to bed and I started tinkering around on it and then a bit more, bit more and then that developed into: 'Let's get a piano.'

From BBC

Related Words

• dabble
• mess