tinkler

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   British dialect, dated and sometimes offensive: an itinerant tinker, traveler, or member of a traveling community

   The servant said the disguised fortune-teller looked like a tinkler from the road.

2. 2
   noun

   a small bell or another object that makes a light ringing sound

   A silver tinkler on the door announced each arriving customer.

Two formations converged. The bell sense is tinkle + -er, literally something that tinkles. The dialect occupational sense is a variant of tinker, historically an itinerant mender of metalware; its extension to traveling people can now be derogatory and should be understood in historical context.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images