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Tinkle vs Trinkle - What's the difference?

tinkle | trinkle |

As verbs the difference between tinkle and trinkle

is that tinkle is to make light metallic sounds, rather like a very small bell while trinkle is to trickle.

As a noun tinkle

is a light metallic sound, resembling the tinkling of bells or wind chimes.

tinkle

English

Verb

(tinkl)
  • To make light metallic sounds, rather like a very small bell.
    • The glasses tinkled together as they were placed on the table.
  • * Dodsley
    • The sprightly horse / Moves to the music of his tinkling bells.
  • (intransitive, informal, juvenile) To urinate.
  • To cause to tinkle.
  • To indicate, signal, etc. by tinkling.
    • The butler tinkled dinner.
  • To hear, or resound with, a small, sharp sound.
  • * Dryden
    • And his ears tinkled , and the colour fled.

    Related terms

    * tinkle the ivories

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A light metallic sound, resembling the tinkling of bells or wind chimes.
  • * 1994 , (Stephen Fry), (The Hippopotamus) , ch. 2:
    • At the very moment he cried out, David realised that what he had run into was only the Christmas tree. . . . There were no sounds of any movement upstairs: no shouts, no sleepy grumbles, only a gentle tinkle from the decorations as the tree had recovered from the collision.
  • (UK, informal) A telephone call.
    • Give me a tinkle when you arrive.
  • (informal, euphemism) An act of urination.

    • trinkle

    English

    Verb

    (trinkl)
  • (rare) to trickle
  • (obsolete) To act secretly, or in an underhand way; to tamper.
    • (Wright)

    References

    (the tears trinkled down her cheeks), [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0AVzqSAUoLUC&pg=PA101&dq=%22trinkled%22&hl=en&ei=KbwpTOG7HoKglAejgp3DAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBg] (the tears trinkled down Trim's cheeks], [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8mUl8oDXyroC&pg=PA56&dq=%22trinkling%22&hl=en&ei=arwpTIXLFYSclgfdgOWsAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg
  • v=onepage&q=%22trinkling%22&f=false (my own heart's blood came trinkling down)