REPAIRto make small changes to something in order to repair it or make it work better 做小改动,做小修补;摆弄
tinker with
Congress has been tinkering with the legislation.
国会一直在对这项立法做些小修小补。
tinker around with something
Dad was always tinkering around with engines.
爸爸总是在摆弄发动机。
Examples from the Corpus
tinker• In the studio, there was time to reflect, to tinker.• The ladtinkered happily with a multi-pronged screwdriver that couldn't possibly work in real life.• To spice up some of their machines, parlor owners have been tinkering illegally with the odds.• Mr Reaves himself likens his operation to tinkering on a Model A Ford with screwdrivers and a pair of pliers.• History is littered with examples of people tinkering, tampering and then tumbling.• To redesign those three districts, the judges tinkered with the borders of 10 neighboring districts in August.• More complex designs presumably require tinkering with VisualBasicscripts.
1.BOin the past, a tinker was someone who travelled from place to place selling things or repairing metal pots, pans etc 〔旧时走街串巷的〕小贩,补锅匠
2.British EnglishBrE old-fashionedSSC a disobedient or annoying young child 顽童,小淘气
Examples from the Corpus
tinker• We can not do without his cunning, or his tinker friends.• Even the tinkerscampednearby were packing up their few belongings and preparing to leave.• He suddenly remembered her carefully veiledamusement when he had mentioned the tinkers.• The tinker plainly knew what she was about, because there was not one single piece of junk to be seen.
Origintinker2
(1200-1300) Perhaps from tink ( → TINKLE2); from the sounds made by someone mending a metal pot