tinkle
1 of 2verb
tin·kle ˈtiŋ-kəl 
tinkled; tinkling ˈtiŋ-k(ə-)liŋ
intransitive verb
1
: to make or emit a tinkle or a sound suggestive of a tinkle
2
: urinate
transitive verb
1
: to sound or make known (the time) by a tinkle
2
a
: to cause to make a tinkle
b
: to produce by tinkling
tinkle a tune
tinkle
2 of 2noun
1
: a series of short high ringing or clinking sounds
2
: a jingling effect in verse or prose
Synonyms
Verb
- chink
- clink
- jingle
- tingle
Noun
- chime(s)
- jingle
- tintinnabulation
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Verb The ice tinkled in the glass. A piano was tinkling in the background. He tinkled a small bell. Noun the soothing tinkle of the wind chime on the back porch
Recent Examples on the Web
Sierra Shafer, Outside Online, 22 Mar. 2012 For all 17 months of her life, Yarielis Paulino-Pepin has only known the warm nest of a hospital room, where gentle lullabies tinkle amid the hum, swish, and beeping of machines keeping her alive. Amanda Milkovits, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Dec. 2021 Dinners were often silent, interrupted only by tinkling ice in a whiskey glass. Robin Antalek, Longreads, 22 Apr. 2020 The Spirio | r, which debuted last month on Steinway’s 166th birthday, allows users of the piano brand to record themselves tinkling the keys, and then adjust the recording themselves via the Spirio app. Rob Ledonne, Billboard, 17 Apr. 2019 But this is a movie that's more efficient than emotionally affecting, a factor underlined by the heavy-handed use of Edward Shearmur's pensive score dominated by tinkling piano. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2020 On their shelves are the previous decade’s big moneymakers — tinkling meditation balls, replica swords, qipaos and noisemakers. Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2019 The Sugarplum Fairy, here called Sugar Rum Cherry, dances to a slow, cheeky, boom-chicka-boom number, decidedly naughtier than Tchaikovsky’s tinkling melody for the celesta. New York Times, 16 Dec. 2019 Rhoda meets Mary Richards, played by the show’s namesake, when Mary moves into the turreted Victorian house where Rhoda has fashioned a home in the attic, fringe beads tinkling in the doorway. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019 Angelina Villa-clarke, Forbes, 12 June 2022 But not everyone is tickled by the tower taking a tinkle. Sarah Rumpf, Fox News, 20 May 2022 Square tiles tinkle like bells when tapped by feet. Sarah Matusek, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Aug. 2021 Roses wreath bespoke trellises, and the gentle tinkle from black slate fountains fills the space, an almost meditative hum. The Editors, Robb Report, 23 June 2021 What is the difference between face shaving with a tinkle razor and dermaplaning? Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 28 May 2021 The dog swam back to shore and shook itself, and the tinkle of its collar bounced across the surface of the water and toward Chip. Lauren Groff, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2021 Why the Alcatraz foghorn when a bicycle tinkle-bell would do? Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2021 While the familiar tinkle of the Red Kettle bells can still be heard throughout the next few weeks, there are also fewer bells throughout the nation because of the pandemic. Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2020 See More
Verb
Others are independent and want to tinkle on a bush. Sierra Shafer, Outside Online, 22 Mar. 2012 For all 17 months of her life, Yarielis Paulino-Pepin has only known the warm nest of a hospital room, where gentle lullabies tinkle amid the hum, swish, and beeping of machines keeping her alive. Amanda Milkovits, BostonGlobe.com, 24 Dec. 2021 Dinners were often silent, interrupted only by tinkling ice in a whiskey glass. Robin Antalek, Longreads, 22 Apr. 2020 The Spirio | r, which debuted last month on Steinway’s 166th birthday, allows users of the piano brand to record themselves tinkling the keys, and then adjust the recording themselves via the Spirio app. Rob Ledonne, Billboard, 17 Apr. 2019 But this is a movie that's more efficient than emotionally affecting, a factor underlined by the heavy-handed use of Edward Shearmur's pensive score dominated by tinkling piano. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan. 2020 On their shelves are the previous decade’s big moneymakers — tinkling meditation balls, replica swords, qipaos and noisemakers. Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2019 The Sugarplum Fairy, here called Sugar Rum Cherry, dances to a slow, cheeky, boom-chicka-boom number, decidedly naughtier than Tchaikovsky’s tinkling melody for the celesta. New York Times, 16 Dec. 2019 Rhoda meets Mary Richards, played by the show’s namesake, when Mary moves into the turreted Victorian house where Rhoda has fashioned a home in the attic, fringe beads tinkling in the doorway. Emily Langer, Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2019 Noun
At the resort, which presides over the pretty Kalemya Bay, all is quiet, apart from the splish-splashing of the waves and perhaps the faint tinkle of laughter of someone giving paddle boarding a go. Angelina Villa-clarke, Forbes, 12 June 2022 But not everyone is tickled by the tower taking a tinkle. Sarah Rumpf, Fox News, 20 May 2022 Square tiles tinkle like bells when tapped by feet. Sarah Matusek, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Aug. 2021 Roses wreath bespoke trellises, and the gentle tinkle from black slate fountains fills the space, an almost meditative hum. The Editors, Robb Report, 23 June 2021 What is the difference between face shaving with a tinkle razor and dermaplaning? Jacqueline Kilikita, refinery29.com, 28 May 2021 The dog swam back to shore and shook itself, and the tinkle of its collar bounced across the surface of the water and toward Chip. Lauren Groff, The New Yorker, 27 Apr. 2021 Why the Alcatraz foghorn when a bicycle tinkle-bell would do? Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Mar. 2021 While the familiar tinkle of the Red Kettle bells can still be heard throughout the next few weeks, there are also fewer bells throughout the nation because of the pandemic. Kelly Tyko, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English, frequentative of tinken to tinkle, of imitative origin
First Known Use
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Noun
1668, in the meaning defined at sense
Phrases Containing tinkle
Kids Definition
tinkle 1 of 2
verb
tin·kle ˈtiŋ-kəl
tinkled; tinkling
: to make or cause to make short high ringing or clinking sounds
tinkle
2 of 2noun
: a short high ringing or clinking sound
tinkles 1 of 2
noun
as in rattles
a series of short high ringing sounds the soothing tinkle of the wind chime on the back porch Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- rattles
- chimes
- clatters
- jingles
- clinks
- trills
- clangs
- ripples
- rings
- jangle
- tintinnabulations
- clanks
- warbles
- pings
- ding-dongs
- chinks
- chirrs
tinkles
2 of 2verb
as in clinks
to make a repeated sharp light ringing sound the bell around the cat's neck tinkled as he ran across the yard Synonyms & Similar Words
- clinks
- jingles
- chimes
- rings
- rattles
- tingles
- chinks
- clangs
- clatters
- clanks
- clacks
- clashes
- plinks
- jangles
- gongs
- pings
- crashes
- dings
- clangors
- ding-dongs
- for hire
- for instance
- for it
- for keeps
- for kicks
- for lack of
- for laughs
- for life
- for long
- for love nor money
- for love or money
- for luck
- for much longer
- for no apparent purpose
- for no good reason
- for nothing
- for observation
- for old times' sake
- for one
- for one reason or another
- for one's age
- for one's benefit
- for one's money
- for one's own benefit
- for one's own good