tinker

[ting-ker]

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.

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

/ 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

verb

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

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

Other Word Forms

• tinkerer noun
• untinkered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of tinker¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tinker¹

C13 tinkere, perhaps from tink tinkle, of imitative origin

Idioms and Phrases

• not worth a damn (tinker's damn)

Example Sentences

On Monday, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent economic think-tank, said that the chancellor should avoid "directionless tinkering and half-baked fixes" when trying to boost the government's tax take in the Budget.

Read more on BBC

Chancellor Rachel Reeves should avoid "directionless tinkering and half-baked fixes" when trying to boost the government's tax take in next month's Budget, a leading think tank has said.

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He tinkered with new pitches, including a cutter and sinker, but still couldn’t execute his trademark splitter the way he wanted.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It wasn’t until Riley left for East Carolina that he started to tinker more with the position.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Hansard relied on that sure-footedness in the studio where Irglová “cut to the chase” and reined in his tendency to tinker and noodle — a tactic his band The Frames indulged in when not on hiatus.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dabble 
• mess