tinker

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English tynkere, perhaps from Old English *tincere, from tin (“tin”) +‎ *cere, as in bēocere (“beekeeper”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈtɪŋkə(ɹ)/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɪŋkɚ/ Hyphenation: tin‧ker Rhymes: -ɪŋkə(ɹ) === Noun === tinker (plural tinkers) An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal. (dated, chiefly British and Ireland, offensive) A member of the Irish Traveller community or of other itinerant groups; a gypsy. (usually with "little") A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster. Someone who repairs, or attempts repair, on anything mechanical, or who invents such devices; one who tinkers; a tinkerer. (informal) An act of repair or invention. (military, obsolete) A hand mortar. Any of various fish: chub mackerel, silverside, skate, or young mackerel about two years old. A razor-billed auk, a bird of species (Alca torda). ==== Synonyms ==== (mischievous person): rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, scoundrel (member of the travelling community): traveller ==== Derived terms ==== if ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands tinker tailor grass tinkerer ==== Translations ==== === Verb === tinker (third-person singular simple present tinkers, present participle tinkering, simple past and past participle tinkered) (intransitive) To work as a tinker. (ambitransitive) To fiddle with something in an attempt to fix, mend or improve it, especially in an experimental or unskilled manner. ==== Synonyms ==== (attempt to fix): fudge, fiddle, hack ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === See also === tinker, tailor tinker's damn === Further reading === “tinker”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. === Anagrams === Kinter, reknit