tinkle
Americanverb (used without object)
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tinkles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tinkled,
past participle, past
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tinkling
present participle
-
to give forth or make a succession of short, light, ringing sounds, as a small bell.
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to run one's fingers lightly over a keyboard instrument or to play such an instrument simply or badly.
-
Baby Talk. to urinate.
verb (used with object)
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tinkles,
present (3rd person singular)
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tinkled,
past participle, past
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tinkling
present participle
-
to cause to tinkle or jingle.
The goat tinkled its bell every time it raised its head. Who's tinkling the piano?
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to make known, call attention to, attract, or summon by tinkling.
noun
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tinkles
plural
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a tinkling sound or tune.
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an act or instance of tinkling.
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Informal. a telephone call.
Give me a tinkle before you leave for Europe.
verb
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to ring or cause to ring with a series of high tinny sounds, like a small bell
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(tr) to announce or summon by such a ringing
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informal (intr) to urinate
noun
-
a high clear ringing sound
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the act of tinkling
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informal a telephone call
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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tinklesimple
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tinklessimple
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have tinkledperfect
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has tinkledperfect
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am tinklingprogressive
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are tinklingprogressive
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is tinklingprogressive
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have been tinklingperfect progressive
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has been tinklingperfect progressive
Past
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tinkledsimple
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had tinkledperfect
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was tinklingprogressive
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were tinklingprogressive
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had been tinklingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tinkle
1350–1400; Middle English tynclen, frequentative of tinken to clink; imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A heavy quiet hangs over Theofilou's farm in the absence of the bleats from the sheep and the tinkle of their bells.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
This is not a concert in which the lead singer will occasionally tinkle the ivories for effect.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2025
But the darned toy has been blaring “Swan Lake” since “Ballerina” started and, to our annoyance, it’ll tinkle a few more times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2025
But what if those bells are right outside your bedroom window day and night, and rather than tinkle gently, clang loudly around the necks of 20 or 30 cows?
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2023
Holding it tight against him to muffle the tinkle, he jumped to the stool, to the floor, and out the crack.
From "The Cricket in Times Square" by George Selden
Roberts doesn’t offer much empathy for the poor, diseased critter other than a pause when Ben momentarily ponders his reflection in a pool as Adrian Johnston’s eerie synth-piano score tinkles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
Each instrument cut through the air with its own vibrations — splashes, thwacks, tinkles, knocks — for a cumulative effect that was captivating to experience live.
From New York Times ● Mar. 19, 2023
There’s only so many ways to make guitar tinkles.
From The Verge ● Sep. 15, 2021
Gentle, sombre piano music tinkles in the background, as he sagely advises, “It’s all right to feel sad, but the pain goes away.”
From The Guardian ● Feb. 6, 2018
Whether it will pick up the saved or cast out the lost is unclear yet to Pupo, who picks up his empty glass and, for comfort, tinkles the ice.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
“He loved it. Coach Wooden would be tinkled pink. He loved Ann Meyers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
Local folk music tinkled from the public address system.
From New York Times ● Apr. 8, 2019
A giant Christmas tree stood in the corner, music tinkled happily, and the adults milled around drinking.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 26, 2017
With each small wave, pebbles washed up on the beach and tinkled back down.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 30, 2015
The bell of an ice cream truck tinkled over the wall, fluttering in the cooling evening air almost like a butterfly.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Jefferson’s default prose is 18th-century elevator music, clear and tinkling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
I wish it sounded like tinkling bells and xylophones.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
"I'd just sit there most evenings, tinkling on it," he says and that curiosity led him to train as a piano tuner.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2026
Step closer and you hear the contraption appearing to breathe, a tinkling sound like wind chimes emanating from the cooling mechanism that keeps its innards colder than outer space.
From Barron's ● Dec. 10, 2025
The dull tinkling of broken pottery echoed around the barn over and over, until the last milk bottle remained.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
