tinkling

T1I1N1K5L1I1N1G2

noun

A tinkle; a tinkling sound.

UncommonScrabble 13

Meanings

nountinkling (plural tinklings)

plural tinklings

  1. A tinkle; a tinkling sound.

    The merry piano tinklings were gone.

    1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 591
  2. JamaicaThe Greater Antillean Grackle, Quiscalus niger.
  3. The action of the verb to tinkle
adjectivetinkling (not comparable)
  1. not comparableThat tinkles.

    A tinkling piano in the next apartment, / Those stumbling words that told you what my heart meant, / A fairground's painted swings... / These foolish things remind me of you.

    1936, Eric Maschwitz, “These Foolish Things”
    1 more example

    American Christians, you may master the intricacies of the English language and you may possess the eloquence of articulate speech; but even though you speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, you are like sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

    1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., “Paul's Letter to American Christians”, in Strength to Love, New York: Pocket Books, published 1964, →OCLC, page 163
  2. not comparableobsoleteThat works as a tinker
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of tinkle

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivelike the short high ringing sound of a small bell

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Esperanto tintado, tintanta
  • tintadoa tinkling sound
  • tintantathat tinkles
  • tintetantathat tinkles
French tintement
  • tintementa tinkling sound
Cite this entry
APA

tinkling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkling

MLA

“tinkling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkling. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tinkling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tinkling.

Source: tinkling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.