How to Use tinkle in a Sentence

tinkle

1 of 2 verb
  • The ice tinkled in the glass.
  • He tinkled a small bell.
  • A piano was tinkling in the background.
  • The bell tinkled, but this time the shelves were empty.
    — Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
  • Guests in silk blouses and slacks sipped scotch while the piano man tinkled the keys.
    — Erin Florio, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Nov. 2024
  • Just sit back and drink your coffee to the tune of tinkling cowbells across the valley.
    — John Oseid, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
  • Eerie chants, tinkling percussion, zany strings, and plucky swelling piano.
    — Grace Byron, Vulture, 15 Sep. 2025
  • The sound of the water tinkling on the fountain’s bronze statues makes my heart flutter.
    — Laura Washington, Chicago Tribune, 9 July 2025
  • But the plotting will continue, and the Jester will be there to tinkle his bells of steel.
    — James Wolcott, The Hive, 21 Feb. 2017
  • The soothing, deeply resonant humming of the bowls and sparkling tinkling of chimes filled the room.
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 12 Aug. 2025
  • That had to have felt like Old Man Winter tinkling on his shoulder.
    — Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 5 Aug. 2024
  • Transform a handful of old keys into a charming wind chime that adds a gentle, tinkling sound to your outdoor space.
    — Katie Cloyd, Martha Stewart, 17 Jan. 2026
  • Dinners were often silent, interrupted only by tinkling ice in a whiskey glass.
    — Robin Antalek, Longreads, 22 Apr. 2020
  • Soft music tinkled in the white marble lobby, where there was hardly a soul walking in or out on a summer workday.
    — Paula Aceves, Curbed, 31 Oct. 2024
  • There’s often a pianist tinkling away in the corner of the airy elegant room in the afternoon.
    — Mark Ellwood, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Mar. 2018
  • There’s often a pianist tinkling away in the corner of the airy elegant room in the afternoon.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 June 2026
  • Bursts of tinkling metal madness somehow mesh with the overall darkness of the slow second movement.
    — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 12 June 2016
  • As her name suggests, the fairy uses a tinkling, bell-like sound to communicate, but no one can understand her.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 29 Apr. 2023
  • The only sound breaking through the hot afternoon air comes from a snorting pair of cows in the neighbor’s yard, and tinkling wind chimes hang over the porch.
    — Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Mar. 2018
  • On a Friday night, the room tinkled with the sound of voices just a decade out of summer camp and maybe five years out of the Midwest.
    — Gary Shteyngart, The New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2024
  • Amrava is the elegant bar in the courtyard of the Palace wing, with a tinkling fountain outside.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Apr. 2026
  • Chanting, tinkling bells and crashing waves swelled into my headphones at the same time as rumbling and vibrating increased on all sides of me.
    — Los Angeles Times, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Curlers rarely merit those up-close-and-personal Olympic bios accompanied by tinkling piano.
    — Author: Karen Heller, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Jan. 2018
  • This was a trial that would surely force many SUVs and pick-ups to tinkle a puddle of oil in fear—a steep volcano climb.
    — Matthew MacConnell, Forbes.com, 23 June 2025
  • There are guitar solos, tinkling electric pianos, ‘70s funk bass, piledriving drums and even acoustic guitars.
    — Jem Aswad, Variety, 12 May 2023
  • But as the Steinway tinkled and voices filled the room, vibrations rose from deep beneath the earth, like a musical giant shifting in its grave.
    — Ben Widdicombe, New York Times, 24 June 2017
  • The Drawing Room is best for afternoon teas accompanied by a tinkling piano.
    — Lydia Bell, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Feb. 2026
  • The marbled, frescoed, octagonal room was domed to amplify the sound of a tinkling keys at the center, and hosted regular recitals.
    — Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Ethereal notes of a glass harmonica, its sound resembling that of clinking glasses, tinkled as incense wafted through the air.
    — National Geographic, 5 Mar. 2019
  • The cocktail hour’s soundtrack was a mariachi band, Los Campos, and loads of tinkling marimba by Tono 13.
    — Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 June 2024

tinkle

2 of 2 noun
  • Periodically a mandolin tinkles, or maybe a fiddle swoops in as if from a low-hanging cloud.
    — Theater Critic, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 Feb. 2026
  • Sometimes, in the deep winter quiet, a piano tinkles in Kelley’s Saloon, and the spirits dance to ghostly music.
    — Emilee Coblentz, Outside, 16 Oct. 2025
  • On our first evening the piano bar—resplendent in gold Thai silks, with tiger orchids blooming across the green carpet—was filled with laughter, the glug-glug-glug of Champagne pouring, and the tinkle of keys.
    — Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 May 2024
  • From the moment that Jerry Goldsmith’s piano tinkles caress the opening bars of his score while stars float past the frame, anyone with a soul knows that this is not your average IP cash-in.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Roberts doesn’t offer much empathy for the poor, diseased critter other than a pause when Ben momentarily ponders his reflection in a pool as Adrian Johnston’s eerie synth-piano score tinkles.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tinkle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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