— tinkerer , n.
/ting"keuhr/ , n.
1. a mender of pots, kettles, pans, etc., usually an itinerant.
2. an unskillful or clumsy worker; bungler.
3. a person skilled in various minor kinds of mechanical work; jack-of-all-trades.
4. an act or instance of tinkering: Let me have a tinker at that motor.
5. Scot. , Irish Eng.
a. a gypsy.
b. any itinerant worker.
c. a wanderer.
d. a beggar.
6. See chub mackerel .
v.i.
7. to busy oneself with a thing without useful results: Stop tinkering with that clock and take it to the repair shop.
8. to work unskillfully or clumsily at anything.
9. to do the work of a tinker.
v.t.
10. to mend as a tinker.
11. to repair in an unskillful, clumsy, or makeshift way.
[ 1225-75; ME tinkere (n.), syncopated var. of tinekere worker in tin ]