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tinker with

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tinker with

Try to repair, work aimlessly or unskillfully with, as in He tinkered with the engine all day but it still wouldn't start. This idiom, first recorded in 1658, alludes to working as a tinker, that is, mending metal utensils.

See also: tinker

tinker with

v.

To make unskilled or experimental efforts at repairing or improving something: I tinkered with the engine, hoping to discover the trouble.

See also: tinker