tinker

1. 1.

   do random, unplanned work or activities or spend time idly

   “The old lady is usually mucking about in her little house”

   Synonymsputtermess aroundpottermonkeymonkey aroundmuck aboutmuck around

   Broaderwork

   Narrowerpuddle
2. 2.

   work as a tinker or tinkerer

   Broaderwork
3. 3.

   try to fix or mend

   “Can you tinker with the T.V. set--it's not working right”

   “She always fiddles with her van on the weekend”

   Synonymsfiddle

   Broaderrepair

Other forms of tinker

plural

tinkers·

past tense

tinkerred·

present participle

tinkerring·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about tinker

What does tinker mean?

tinker means "a person who enjoys fixing and experimenting with machines and their parts". That is the primary sense; the word has 6 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in tinker?

tinker has 2 syllables: tin-ker. The stress falls on "tin". In IPA it is /ˈtɪŋkɚ/.

What is another word for tinker?

Close synonyms include tinkerer, chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus, putter, mess around. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is tinker a common word?

tinker is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.