tinker
Syllables: tin·kerUK/ˈtɪŋkə//ˈtɪŋkɚ/
tinker noun: an itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.
Noun
tinker (plural tinkers)
- An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.
- The blacksmith chased us all to ground
They searched all night we were never found
The tinker boys and the sheriff's men
Shaking the tallest tree.1988, “Mayhem Maybe”, in Ian Anderson (music), 20 Years of Jethro Tull, performed by Jethro Tull
- The blacksmith chased us all to ground
- A member of the Irish Traveller community or of other itinerant groups; a gypsy.
- Synonyms:
- traveller
- A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster.
- Synonyms:
- rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, scoundrel
- Someone who repairs, or attempts repair, on anything mechanical, or who invents such devices; one who tinkers; a tinkerer.
- An act of repair or invention.
- I'll have a tinker and see what I can do.
- A hand mortar.
- Any of various fish: chub mackerel, silverside, skate, or young mackerel about two years old.
- A razor-billed auk, a bird of species (Alca torda).
Verb
tinker (third-person singular simple present tinkers, present participle tinkering, simple past and past participle tinkered)
- To work as a tinker.
- To fiddle with something in an attempt to fix, mend or improve it, especially in an experimental or unskilled manner.
- the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane1894, Thomas Hardy, A Few Crusted Characters
- As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.2012 January, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2013, page 31
Proper noun capitalized: Tinker
Tinker
- A northern English surname originating as an occupation for someone who mends pots and pans.
tinker meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
tinker in Hindi
- टिंकर, टिन्कर
tinker in Tamil
- டிஂகர், டிங்கர் செய்ய
tinker in Marathi
- टिंकर, टिन्कर, टिंकरिंग करण्यासाठी
tinker in Urdu
- اناڑی, بنجیرا, ٹھٹھیرا
More languagesFewer languages
- tinker in Bengali
- টিঙ্কার, টিংকার, টিঙ্কার করার জন্য
- tinker in Telugu
- టింకర్, టింకర్ చెయ్యడానికి
- tinker in Malayalam
- ചെമ്പോട്ടി, തകരപ്പണിക്കാരൻ, കുസൃതിയായ കുട്ടി
- tinker in Kannada
- ಸರಿಪಡಿಸು, ಕೆಟ್ಟದಾಗಿ ಸರಿಪಡಿಸು, ಹೊತ್ತುಕಳ
- tinker in Punjabi
- ਟਿੰਕਰ, ਟਿੰਕਰ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- tinker in Gujarati
- ટિન્કર, ટિંકર, ટિંકરિંગ કરવા માટે
- tinker in Odia
- ଟିଙ୍କର, ଟିଙ୍କର୍, ଟିଂକର୍ କରିବା ପାଇଁ
- tinker in Nepali
- टिङ्कर, टिन्कर, टिङ्कर्
- tinker in Malay
- menggodek-godek
- tinker in Vietnamese
- táy máy
Examples of tinker in a sentence
- And because he wants to show that he is a dominant male, he tinkered the engine of his motorbike to make it even noisier.2013, Eric Goulard, Body Language Secrets Revealed:
- 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.2020 May 20, “Network News: LNER seeks innovation through FutureLabs project”, in Rail, page 14:
Synonyms of tinker
Forms of tinker
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | tinkers |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | tinkers |
| present participle | tinkering |
| past participle | tinkered |
| past | tinkered |
Origin of tinker
From Middle English tynkere, perhaps from Old English *tincere, from tin (“tin”) + *cere, as in bēocere (“beekeeper”).
Words formed from tinker
- if ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands
- tinkerbird
- tinkerer
- tinkerlike
- tinkerly
- tinker tailor grass
- retinker
- tinkersome
- tinker up
- untinkered
Phrases with tinker
Words that rhyme with tinker
Questions about tinker
- What does tinker mean?
- Tinker means an itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.
- What is tinker in Hindi?
- Tinker in Hindi is टिंकर, टिन्कर. See Tinker meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use tinker in a sentence?
- And because he wants to show that he is a dominant male, he tinkered the engine of his motorbike to make it even noisier.
- What part of speech is tinker?
- Tinker can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce tinker?
- Tinker is pronounced /ˈtɪŋkə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of tinker?
- The plural of tinker is tinkers.
Words near tinker in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tinker (page history and authors); Tinker (page history and authors); tinker (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tinker (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tinker (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tinker (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tinker (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-tinker.ogg.
Cite this entry: “tinker.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tinker. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.