Adjacent Words

Tinker definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TINK'ER, n. A mender of brass kettles,pans and the like.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person who enjoys fixing and experimenting with machines and their parts [syn: tinker, tinkerer]
2: formerly a person (traditionally a Gypsy) who traveled from place to place mending pots and kettles and other metal utensils as a way to earn a living
3: small mackerel found nearly worldwide [syn: chub mackerel, tinker, Scomber japonicus] v
1: do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly; "The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house" [syn: putter, mess around, potter, tinker, monkey, monkey around, muck about, muck around]
2: work as a tinker or tinkerer
3: try to fix or mend; "Can you tinker with the T.V. set--it's not working right"; "She always fiddles with her van on the weekend" [syn: tinker, fiddle]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English tinkere Date: 14th century 1. a. a usually itinerant mender of household utensils b. an unskillful mender ; bungler 2. chiefly Irish gypsy II. verb (tinkered; tinkering) Date: 1592 intransitive verb to work in the manner of a tinker; especially to repair, adjust, or work with something in an unskilled or experimental manner ; fiddle <always tinkering with his car> transitive verb to repair, adjust, or experiment with • tinkerer noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an itinerant mender of kettles and pans etc. 2 Sc. & Ir. a gypsy. 3 colloq. a mischievous person or animal. 4 a spell of tinkering. 5 a rough-and-ready worker. --v. 1 intr. (foll. by at, with) work in an amateurish or desultory way, esp. to adjust or mend machinery etc. 2 a intr. work as a tinker. b tr. repair (pots and pans). Derivatives: tinkerer n. Etymology: ME: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Silversides Sil"ver*sides`, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of small fishes of the family Atherinid[ae], having a silvery stripe along each side of the body. The common species of the American coast (Menidia notata) is very abundant. Called also silverside, sand smelt, friar, tailor, and tinker. Brook silversides (Zo["o]l.), a small fresh-water North American fish (Labadesthes sicculus) related to the marine silversides.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tinker Tink"er, n. [From Tink, because the tinker's way of proclaiming his trade is to beat a kettle, or because in his work he makes a tinkling noise. Johnson.] 1. A mender of brass kettles, pans, and other metal ware. ``Tailors and tinkers.'' --Piers Plowman. 2. One skilled in a variety of small mechanical work. 3. (Ordnance) A small mortar on the end of a staff. 4. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A young mackerel about two years old. (b) The chub mackerel. (c) The silversides. (d) A skate. [Prov. Eng.] 5. (Zo["o]l.) The razor-billed auk.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tinker Tink"er, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tinkered; p. pr. & vb. n. Tinkering.] To mend or solder, as metal wares; hence, more generally, to mend.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tinker Tink"er, v. i. To busy one's self in mending old kettles, pans, etc.; to play the tinker; to be occupied with small mechanical works.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tinkers, tinkering, tinkered) If you tinker with something, you make some small changes to it, in an attempt to improve it or repair it. Instead of the Government admitting its error, it just tinkered with the problem... It is not enough to tinker at the edges; our objective must be to reconstruct the entire system. VERB: V with n, V • tinkering No amount of tinkering is going to improve matters.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Mender (of old pans, kettles, etc.). II. v. a. Mend (as old pans, kettles, etc.), cobble, patch up, repair, vamp, put in repair.

Moby Thesaurus

cobble, cobbler, commission, condition, coquet, dabble, dally, darn, do up, doctor, doodle, fiddle, fiddle with, fiddle-faddle, fidget with, finger with, fix, fix up, fixer, flirt, fool, fool around, fool with, fribble, frivol, horse around, idle, jerk off, kid around, little Miss Fixit, loiter, maintenance man, mechanic, mechanician, meddle, mend, mender, mess, mess around, monkey, monkey around, overhaul, patch, patch up, piddle, play, play around, play with, potter, puddle, put in commission, put in order, put in repair, put in shape, putter, ready, recap, recondition, renovator, repair, repairer, repairman, restorer, retread, service, serviceman, set to rights, sew up, smatter, tinker up, toy, toy with, trifle, trouble man, troubleshooter, twiddle