| 释义 |
[ ting-ker ] / ˈtɪŋ kər / SEE SYNONYMS FOR tinker ON THESAURUS.COM
nouna mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant. an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler. a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades. an act or instance of tinkering: Let me have a tinker at that motor. Scot., Irish English. - a Romani living in the British Isles; a Traveler.
- any itinerant worker.
- a wanderer.
- a beggar.
chub mackerel. verb (used without object)to busy oneself with a thing without useful results: Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop. to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything. to do the work of a tinker. verb (used with object)to mend as a tinker. to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way. Origin of tinkerFirst recorded in 1225–75; Middle English tinkere (noun), syncopated variant of tinekere “worker in tin” OTHER WORDS FROM tinkertin·ker·er, nounun·tin·kered, adjectiveWords nearby tinkertin god, tin hat, tinhorn, Tinia, Tinian, tinker, tinkerman, tinker's cuss, tinker's dam, tinker's damn, Tinkertoy Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020 Example sentences from the Web for tinkerYou could tinker with them so they would boil but then the cops could take it away for being an ‘altered item’. Tales of a Jailhouse Gourmet: How I learned to Cook in Prison|Daniel Genis|June 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST He could spell the names of all his classmates, and he loved building with Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys. The Crossword Puzzle Turns 100: The ‘King of Crossword’ on Its Strange History|Kevin Fallon|December 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST [Laughs] KROLL: The “Tinker Stinker” I like, in that it felt like a true labeling of something that happens. ‘The League’ Roundtable: The Cast Dishes on the Funniest Show You’re Not Watching|Marlow Stern|November 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST Oh, sure, if it would attract a few token Republican votes, they were willing to tinker with the price tag. How Could the GOP Have Improved Obamacare?|Megan McArdle|May 10, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Tinker with these positions, several sages are quoted as saying, and the GOP will be back in the game. Deluded Republican Reformers|Michael Tomasky|February 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST The tinker then pours a goatskin full of his infusion over the monster's head, who falls into a deep sleep. The Folk-Tales of the Magyars|Various Suppose a plumber is called into your house on a raw day of January to tinker up a disordered pipe in the cellar. Christianity and Problems of To-day: Lectures Delivered Before Lake Forest College on the Foundation of the Late William Bross|John Huston Finley As much as Tom the Tinker loved his money, he was not willing to fight for it; he therefore gave the man the full amount. The Cave by the Beech Fork|Henry S. Spalding Tom Hyde, the tinker, standing on the gallows, was asked if he had anything to say. Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience|Henry David Thoreau The Tinker rose and made a fire with leaves and furze and sticks, some dry and some green. The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 1, April, 1851|Various
British Dictionary definitions for tinker
noun(esp formerly) a travelling mender of pots and pans a clumsy worker the act of tinkering Scot and Irish another name for Gypsy British informal a mischievous child any of several small mackerels that occur off the North American coast of the Atlantic verb(intr foll by with) to play, fiddle, or meddle (with machinery, etc), esp while undertaking repairs to mend (pots and pans) as a tinker Derived forms of tinkertinkerer, nounWord Origin for tinkerC13 tinkere, perhaps from tink tinkle, of imitative origin Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Idioms and Phrases with tinker
In addition to the idiom beginning with tinker also see: - not worth a damn (tinker's damn)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Words related to tinkermess, dabble, repair, play, toy, monkey, doodle, putter, niggle, puddle, fix, mess with, muck about, play with, take apart |