tinkerとは 意味・読み方・使い方

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈtɪŋkə(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA: /ˈtɪŋkɚ/
• ハイフネーション: tin‧ker
• 韻: -ɪŋkə(ɹ)

名詞

tinker (plural tinkers)

1. An itinerant tinsmith and mender of household utensils made of metal.
   • 1988, “Mayhem Maybe”, in Ian Anderson (music), 20 Years of Jethro Tull, performed by Jethro Tull:

     The blacksmith chased us all to ground
     They searched all night we were never found
     The tinker boys and the sheriff's men
     Shaking the tallest tree.

2. (dated, chiefly British and Ireland, offensive) A member of the Irish Traveller community or of other itinerant groups; a gypsy.
3. (usually with "little") A mischievous person, especially a playful, impish youngster.
4. Someone who repairs, or attempts repair, on anything mechanical, or who invents such devices; one who tinkers; a tinkerer.
5. (informal) An act of repair or invention.

   I'll have a tinker and see what I can do.

6. (military, obsolete) A hand mortar.
7. Any of various fish: chub mackerel, silverside, skate, or young mackerel about two years old.
8. A bird, the razor-billed auk.

同意語

• (mischievous person): rapscallion, rascal, rogue, scamp, scoundrel
• (member of the travelling community): traveller

派生語

• if ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands
• tinkerer

動詞

tinker (third-person singular simple present tinkers, present participle tinkering, simple past and past participle tinkered)

1. (intransitive) To work as a tinker.
2. (ambitransitive) To fiddle with something in an attempt to fix, mend or improve it, especially in an experimental or unskilled manner.
   • 1894, Thomas Hardy, A Few Crusted Characters:

     the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane

   • 2012 January, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 3 October 2013, page 31:

     As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds.

   • 2013, Eric Goulard, Body Language Secrets Revealed:

     And because he wants to show that he is a dominant male, he tinkered the engine of his motorbike to make it even noisier.

   • 2020 May 20, “Network News: LNER seeks innovation through FutureLabs project”, in Rail, page 14:

     We're not just talking about changes that tinker around the edges - we're looking to take advantage of some of the world's latest digital and tech developments to improve our service.

同意語

• (attempt to fix): fudge, fiddle, hack

参考

• tinker, tailor
• tinker's damn

Further reading

• “tinker”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

アナグラム

• Kinter, reknit