See Also: tinker(medicine)
tinker(1)(dictionary)
tinker(2)(dictionary)
tinker 1, verb(dictionary)
tinker 2, noun(dictionary)
TINKER Credit Union(finance)

tinker(1) (iou)



tinker noun. ME.
[Origin unkn.: earliest in Anglo-Latin surname. Cf. TINKLER noun1.]
A (usu. itinerant) pedlar or repairer of pots, kettles, etc. ME.
not care a tinker's curse, not care a tinker's damn, not care a tinker's care little or not at all. not worth a tinker's curse, not worth a tinker's damn, not worth a tinker's worthless, of little significance.
b. In Scotland and Ireland, a member of a travelling people, a gipsy; transf. (derog.) a disreputable or abusive person. M16.
c. A clumsy or unskilful worker; a botcher. M17.
d. A mischievous person or animal, esp. a child; a rascal. Freq. joc. E20.
Any of various fishes, birds, etc., as a skate, a stickleback, a mackerel, a guillemot, Canad. a razor-billed auk. dial. L18.
[from the verb.] An act of tinkering; an (esp. unskilful) attempt at repairing something. M19.
Comb.: tinker-bird any of several African birds having a call like repetitive hammering, esp. a barbet of the genus Pogoniulus.
tinkerdom noun the domain of tinkers; the condition or practice of a tinker: M19.