tinker with
Try to repair, work aimlessly or unskillfully with, as in He tinkered with the engine all day but it still wouldn't start. This idiom, first recorded in 1658, alludes to working as a tinker, that is, mending metal utensils.
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Words nearby tinker with
tingly, tinhorn, tinia, tinian, tinker, tinker with, tinker's cuss, tinker's dam, tinker's damn, tinker's weed, tinkerman
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
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