tink

English

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

From Middle English tinken, of imitative origin. Compare 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.

   • Wycliff's Bible, 1 Corinthians xiii (quoted in Medieval English Verse and Prose, 1948, by Loomis & Willard)

     If I speak with tongues of men and of angels, and I have not charity, I am made as brass sounding or a cymbal tinking.

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.
   • 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 British 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

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Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English think.

Verb

tink

1. think