tink

See also: tínk

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪŋk/, [ˈtʰɪŋk]

  • Audio (Australian):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk
• Hyphenation: tink
• Homophone: think (th-stopping)

Etymology 1

From Middle English tinken, possibly from Old English *tincian, equivalent to tin +‎ -k. Compare Dutch tinken (“to tink, toll, strike the bells of a clock”), German Low German tinken (“to tink”). Compare also English ting.

Verb

tink (third-person singular simple present tinks, present participle tinking, simple past and past participle tinked)

1. To emit a high-pitched sharp or metallic noise.

   Jimmy heard the bells tink.

Synonyms

• tinkle

Related terms

• tingle

References

• [1]

Noun

tink (plural tinks)

1. (dated) A sharp, quick sound; a tinkle.

Etymology 2

knit spelled backwards.

Verb

tink (third-person singular simple present tinks, present participle tinking, simple past and past participle tinked)

1. (knitting, slang, transitive) To unknit.
   • 2012, Amy Lane, A Knitter in His Natural Habitat, page 48:

     Stanley knitted when he should have purled and swore, tinking the knitting back to fix the flaw.

   • 2006, Heather Dixon, Not Your Mama's Knitting, page 89:

     If the stitch you need to fix is on the last or previous row, a bit of unknitting, or “tinking” as it is known by some knitters, is all that is needed to get back to the point where you can mend your mistake.

Etymology 3

Shortened from tinker.

Noun

tink (plural tinks)

1. (chiefly UK and Ireland, offensive) A member of the travelling community. A gypsy.
   • 2000, David Brian Plummer, Merle: The Start of Dynasty, →ISBN, page 11:

     'Most have white eyes, which ain't natural in any beast, tame or wild, and they are considered unlucky - the tinks calls 'em moonpies, and most will avoid settling on farms where they are kept.

   • 2014, Alastair Macleod, The Traveller's Tale, →ISBN:

     Her family had a name that marked them out as tinks, only they weren't tinks anymore.

   • 2015, Andrew O'Hagan, The Illuminations, →ISBN, page 47:

     'Well, you should feel right at home,' Flannigan said. 'You love a bit of thieving, you and the rest of the fucken tinks you grew up with in the Emerald Toilet.'

Anagrams

• knit

Antigua and Barbuda Creole English

Verb

tink

1. think

Livonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *tünkä via earlier tünk (tüŋk).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtink/, [ˈtiŋˑkˑ]

Noun

tink

1. stub, stump

Declension

Declension of tink (94)

	singular (ikšlu’g)	plural (pǟgiņlu’g)
nominative (nominatīv)	tink	tīnkõd
genitive (genitīv)	tink	tīnkõd
partitive (partitīv)	tinkõ	tīnkidi
dative (datīv)	tinkõn	tīnkõdõn
instrumental (instrumentāl)	tinkõks	tīnkõdõks
illative (illatīv)	tinkõ	tīnkiž
inessive (inesīv)	tinksõ	tīnkis
elative (elatīv)	tinkstõ	tīnkist

References

• Tiit-Rein Viitso; Valts Ernštreits (2012–2013), “tink”, in Līvõkīel-ēstikīel-lețkīel sõnārōntõz [Livonian-Estonian-Latvian Dictionary]‎^[2] (in Estonian and Latvian), Tartu, Rīga: Tartu Ülikool, Latviešu valodas aģentūra

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English think.

Verb

tink

1. to think
   • 2025 August 22, “2027 elections and oda tins wey increase mass insecurity - Chief of Defence staff”, in BBC News Pidgin:

     "Him (Ekpa) still dey undergo prosecution for Finland. So, we dey hopeful. Wen we tok about am, pipo bin tink say we dey make noise, but since dem arrest am, di Southeast don dey beta.

     "Him (Ekpa) still is undergoing prosecution in Finland. So, we are hopeful. When we talk about him, people think we are making noise, but since they arrested him, the Southeast is better."

West Frisian

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɪŋk/

Verb

tink

1. first-person singular present of tinke
2. imperative of tinke