Other forms: tinkling, tinkles
To tinkle is to make a very light high ringing sound. The bell tinkled, a tinkle of glass, tinkling in the wind.
The sound is small, bright and repeated — a tiny bell, glass charms, a spoon against a cup. As a noun, give somebody a tinkle is dated British for telephoning them. There is also a nursery use meaning to urinate, which is why the word is best avoided in some company. Note that tinkle is tink plus the -le ending that marks a repeated action, like sparkle and crackle.
1verbtinkleTo make a very light high ringing sound.
“The little bell above the shop door tinkled as we walked in.”
2nounsoundSuch a sound.
“We heard the tinkle of ice cubes in her glass.”
tinkle is a light ringing sound.
Middle English tinclen is tink, an imitative word, plus the -le ending for repeated action. Dutch tinkelen and West Frisian tinkelje are built the same way.
Middle English
tinclen
English, today
tinkle
From Middle English tinclen, equivalent to tink + le. Cognate with West Frisian tinkelje (“to tinkle”), Dutch tinkelen (“to tinkle”), German Low German tinkeln (“to flicker, glitter, sparkle”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Sounds & Noises