tinker

/ˈtɪŋkər/
noun
  1. A person who travels from place to place repairing metal items such as pots and pans.
    • In the old days, a tinker would come to the village to fix pots.
    • My grandfather worked as a tinker when he was young.
    • The tinker carried a cart full of tools and metal scraps.
  2. A person who enjoys making small repairs or improvements to things, especially mechanical or electronic devices.
    • The neighborhood tinker helped me repair my bicycle.
    • She's a real tinker, always taking apart gadgets to see how they work.
    • My uncle is a tinker who can fix almost anything.
verb
  1. To attempt to repair or improve something in an unskilled or experimental way.
    • He likes to tinker with old radios in his free time.
    • Don't tinker with the settings if you don't know what they do.
    • She spent the afternoon tinkering with the engine, but it still wouldn't start.
  2. To make small changes to something, often to try to improve it.
    • I've been tinkering with the software code all week.
    • They tinkered with the design to make it more user-friendly.
    • The chef tinkered with the recipe until it was perfect.
What does "tinker" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean