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tinker with

Idioms

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.

Example Sentences

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tinker with

The Fantasy Premier League season begins on Friday 21 August so, to help managers as you tinker with your teams before the deadline, we've gone through all 20 teams and analysed some of their assets.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

While her kids watch TV, Acheson likes to tinker with Claude.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026

Facing an overmatched opponent that allowed him to freely tinker with his lineups, Mick Cronin tried plenty of mixing and matching Tuesday afternoon.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

Waiting could pay off for people who want more in their paychecks instead of big refunds — but who don’t want to tinker with their withholdings.

From MarketWatch ● Dec. 19, 2025

Bolles decided he needed to tinker with the fundamentals of the boat, the mechanics of what made it go—or not go.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023