▪ I. tinkling, vbl. n.
(ˈtɪŋklɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
I. The action of tinkle v.1
1. The (subjective) ringing of the ears. Now rare.
| 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xvii. clv. (W. de W.) T vij/2 Senuey..dooth awaye tynkelynge [Bodl. MS. tingelinge] & ryngynge of the eere. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1553) C vj, Deafenesse by wynde..in the eare,..causeth tyncklyng in the heade. 1635 R. Brathwait Arcad. Pr. 104, I feele a perpetuall tinckling and sowing [? sowning] in mine eares. 1803 Med. Jrnl. IX. 145 Affected..with a difficulty of hearing, and a tinkling in the ears. |
2. A succession of short light ringing sounds, as of a cymbal or a small bell; jingling. Also fig.
| 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Cor. xiii. 35 A cymball, that with his vnprofitable tinklyng troubleth the eares. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 32 The Papists at the tinckling of a little Bell, lift up the consecrated Bread. 1651 Davenant Gondibert Pref. (1673) 9 Old Men..think it lyes in a kinde of tinkling of words. 1750 Gray Elegy 8 Drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 1021 Idle tinkling of a minstrel's lyre. 1800 Hull Advertiser 8 Nov. 3/3 Pretended half-guineas.., and nothing but the test of tinkling can lead to detection. 1881 Broadhouse Mus. Acoustics 197 That peculiar high inharmonious noise which we are accustomed to call ‘tinkling’. |
II. 3. Short for tinkling grackle: see next, c.
▪ II. tinkling, ppl. a.1
(ˈtɪŋklɪŋ)
[f. tinkle v.1 + -ing2.]
That tinkles; making a short light ringing sound, or a succession of such; jingling.
| c 1440 [see tinkle v.1 2]. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. xiii. 1, I were even as soundynge brasse, and as a tynklynge Cymball. 1563 Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. vii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 75 Lyke soundand metell, or ane tincland cimbal. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. vi. iii. 373 Bees..when they heare any tinkling [ed. 1651 tingling] sound, will tarry behind. 1663 Cowley Verses & Ess., Complaint vii, The tinckling strings of thy loose minstrelsie. 1717 Pope Eloisa 158 The grots that echo to the tinkling rills. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xiii, A long train of mules—a jolly tinkling team. 1877 M. M. Grant Sun-Maid i, There came the tinkling musical echo of a bell. |
b. fig. of speech (or a speaker), or verse.
| 1626 B. Jonson Fort. Isles Wks. (Rtldg.) 650/1 In Rhime! fine tinckling Rhime! and flowand Verse! 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. Pref., M.'s Wks. 1851 VII. 10 Them, I say, together with their tinkling Advocate,..we shall e'en let whine on, till they cry their eyes out. 1822 Hazlitt Table-t. Ser. ii. v. (1869) 120 Keep to your sounding generalities, your tinkling phrases. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. i. 24 Beware, a tinkling fool to be! |
c. tinkling grackle, also simply tinkling: a bird, a species of grackle (Quiscalus crassirostris) found in Jamaica; so called from its note.
| 1847 Gosse Birds Jamaica 217 Tinkling Grakle. Ibid. 219 Like the Ani, the Tinkling feeds on the parasites of cattle. 1890 Blackw. Mag. June 787 The tinkling may be seen feeding greedily in the pastures. 1896 Newton Dict. Birds, Tinkling or Tin-tin, the name in Jamaica for one of the American Grackles, Quiscalus crassirostris. |
Hence ˈtinklingly adv., in a tinkling way.
| 1894 Crockett Mad Sir Uchtred 25 As she spoke she laughed tinklingly. |
▪ III. tinkling, ppl. a.2
see tinkle v.2