Definition of "tinker" []

• A traveling mender of metal household utensils. (noun)
• Chiefly British A member of any of various traditionally itinerant groups of people living especially in Scotland and Ireland; a traveler. (noun)
• One who enjoys experimenting with and repairing machine parts. (noun)
• A clumsy repairer or worker; a meddler. (noun)
• To work as a tinker. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To many people, guns are like cars before cars were operated by 18 computers; the urge to tinker is irresistible."
• "I think the freedom to tinker is a key, fundamental freedom whose importance is growing as we depend more and more on software and computer hardware."
• "Though he is usually called a tinker, Bunyan had a settled home and place of business."