tinker

Followed by a transitive particle

around: There can be little more done for car drivers except tinkering around the edges.

Converse of object

give: Look: the trout does not give a tinker 's how the fly arrives at his front door.

Preposition: at

edge: Government can indeed â should, in my opinion â tinker at the edges to fine tune some aspects of society.

Preposition: around

edge: Tinkering around the edges simply will not realize this vision.

Adjective modifier

little: Well yes, until the little tinker mistook my handbag for his litter tray, but thatâs a story for another column.

Modifying Another Word

• merely: He has merely tinkered with programs written by others.
• simply: The Green Party aims to address the root causes of these problems, rather than simply tinkering with the symptoms.
• about: That bit was about tinkering with the payment rules.
• away: Have you tinkered away for years in your garden shed creating the product which will change the world?
• just: The LRC is trying to do something quite big in the Labor Party, not just tinker.
• still: I was surprised to find people still tinkering with equipment I hadn't touched for well over a decade!

Followed by an intransitive particle

around: There are bits of him tinkering around, which could be used.

Possessives

cuss: Normally, you could not give a tinker's cuss about minority party debates.

Preposition: under

bonnet: I believe that the new capital framework must be given time to bed down before we start tinkering about under the bonnet again.

Preposition: with

• device: Or at least we will soon, and therefore it seems irrelevant whether or not it becomes illegal to tinker with devices.
• engine: Outside a group of teenagers are tinkering with a car engine.
• system: To date, however, Kim has only tinkered with the economic system.
• structure: Tinkering with a company structure is like ordering from a Chinese menu Option one is to tinker with the existing structure.
• design: I'll be back on later, hopefully with enough focus to tinker with design a little.
• car: Hire him out in return for someone who likes to mow lawns or tinker with cars.