Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to tinker about
Participle: tinkered about
Gerund: tinkering about
Cognates
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Indicative
Present
| I | tinker about |
| you | tinker about |
| he;she;it | tinkers about |
| we | tinker about |
| you | tinker about |
| they | tinker about |
Perfect
| I | have tinkered about |
| you | have tinkered about |
| he;she;it | has tinkered about |
| we | have tinkered about |
| you | have tinkered about |
| they | have tinkered about |
Past
| I | tinkered about |
| you | tinkered about |
| he;she;it | tinkered about |
| we | tinkered about |
| you | tinkered about |
| they | tinkered about |
Pluperfect
| I | had tinkered about |
| you | had tinkered about |
| he;she;it | had tinkered about |
| we | had tinkered about |
| you | had tinkered about |
| they | had tinkered about |
Future
| I | will tinker about |
| you | will tinker about |
| he;she;it | will tinker about |
| we | will tinker about |
| you | will tinker about |
| they | will tinker about |
Future Perfect
| I | will have tinkered about |
| you | will have tinkered about |
| he;she;it | will have tinkered about |
| we | will have tinkered about |
| you | will have tinkered about |
| they | will have tinkered about |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | tinker about |
| you | tinker about |
| he;she;it | tinker about |
| we | tinker about |
| you | tinker about |
| they | tinker about |
Perfect
| I | have tinkered about |
| you | have tinkered about |
| he;she;it | have tinkered about |
| we | have tinkered about |
| you | have tinkered about |
| they | have tinkered about |
Imperfect
| I | tinkered about |
| you | tinkered about |
| he;she;it | tinkered about |
| we | tinkered about |
| you | tinkered about |
| they | tinkered about |
Pluperfect
| I | had tinkered about |
| you | had tinkered about |
| he;she;it | had tinkered about |
| we | had tinkered about |
| you | had tinkered about |
| they | had tinkered about |
Conditional
Present
| I | would tinker about |
| you | would tinker about |
| he;she;it | would tinker about |
| we | would tinker about |
| you | would tinker about |
| they | would tinker about |
Perfect
| I | would have tinkered about |
| you | would have tinkered about |
| he;she;it | would have tinkered about |
| we | would have tinkered about |
| you | would have tinkered about |
| they | would have tinkered about |
Imperative
| you | tinker about |
| we | Let's tinker about |
| you | tinker about |
Verbs conjugated like 'tinker'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'tinker'
linker,
tanker,
tinder,
bicker,
binner,
blinker,
bunker,
canker,
cinder,
clinker,
Additional Information
Etymology
1. "mender of kettles, pots, pans, etc.," 1252 (as a surname), of uncertain origin. Some connect the word with the sound made by light hammering on metal. The verb meaning "to keep busy in a useless way" is first found 1658. Tinker's damn "something slight and worthless" is from 1824, preserving tinkers' reputation for free and casual use of profanity.
2. From Middle English tynkere, perhaps from Old English *tincere, from tin (“tin”) + *cere, as in bēocere (“beekeeper”).
Sample Sentences
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the broken bureau-lock and tinkered window-pane [1894, Thomas Hardy, A Few Crusted Characters:]
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As in much of biology, the most satisfying truths in ecology derive from manipulative experimentation. Tinker with nature and quantify how it responds. [2012 January 26, Robert M. Pringle, “How to Be Manipulative”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2013, page 31:]
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And because he wants to show that he is a dominant male, he tinkered the engine of his motorbike to make it even noisier. [2013, Eric Goulard, Body Language Secrets Revealed:]
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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. [2020 May 20, “Network News: LNER seeks innovation through FutureLabs project”, in Rail, page 14:]