tinker
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See also: Tinker
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle English tynkere, perhaps from Old English *tincere, from tin (“tin”) + *cere, as in bēocere (“beekeeper”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɪŋkə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɪŋkɚ/
(US): (file) - Hyphenation: tin‧ker
- Rhymes: -ɪŋkə(ɹ)
Noun
[edit]tinker (plural tinkers)
- An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.
- (dated, chiefly British and Ireland, offensive) A member of the Irish Traveller community or of other itinerant groups; a gypsy.
- (usually with "little") A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster.
- Someone who repairs, or attempts repair, on anything mechanical, or who invents such devices; one who tinkers; a tinkerer.
- (informal) An act of repair or invention.
- I'll have a tinker and see what I can do.
- (military, obsolete) A hand mortar.
- Any of various fish: chub mackerel, silverside, skate, or young mackerel about two years old.
- A bird, the razor-billed auk.
Synonyms
[edit]- (mischievous person): rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, scoundrel
- (member of the travelling community): traveller
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]itinerant tinsmith
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member of the travelling community
mischievous person
Verb
[edit]tinker (third-person singular simple present tinkers, present participle tinkering, simple past and past participle tinkered)
- (intransitive) To work as a tinker.
- (transitive, intransitive) To fiddle with something in an attempt to fix, mend or improve it, especially in an experimental or unskilled manner.
- 1894, Thomas Hardy, A Few Crusted Characters:
- the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane
- 2012 January, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 3 October 2013, page 31:
- As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.
- 2013, Eric Goulard, Body Language Secrets Revealed:
- And because he wants to show that he is a dominant male, he tinkered the engine of his motorbike to make it even noisier.
- 2020 May 20, “Network News: LNER seeks innovation through FutureLabs project”, in Rail, page 14:
- We're not just talking about changes that tinker around the edges - we're looking to take advantage of some of the world's latest digital and tech developments to improve our service.
Synonyms
[edit]Translations
[edit]to work as a tinker
to fiddle with something in an attempt to fix or improve it
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See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “tinker”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English 2-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/ɪŋkə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪŋkə(ɹ)/2 syllables
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- en:Atheriniform fish
- en:Auks
- en:Metallurgy
- en:Occupations
- en:People
- en:Rays and skates
- en:Scombroids