Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a ring on the telephone; usu. in phr. give someone a tinkle.

1938		F.D. Sharpe Sharpe of the Flying Squad 241: We’ll have a poodle round and as soon as we find them I’ll give you a tinkle on the blower.
1947		J. Maclaren-Ross ‘The Dark Diceman’ in Bitten by the Tarantula (2005) 212: [...] thought he ought to give the old boy a tinkle.
1958		F. Norman Bang To Rights 133: Little did she know just how soon I was going to give her a tinkle.
1961		B. Crump Hang On a Minute, Mate (1963) 32: Old Dan’s on the blower up there. I’ll give him a tinkle.
1977		(con. 1940s) O. Manning Danger Tree 14: Give me a tinkle mid-way and I’ll let you know what’s doing.
1992		I. Rankin Wolfman 142: Give Penny a tinkle.
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 160: Give me a tinkle later on.
2012		(con. 1980s) I. Welsh Skagboys 32: Ah’m suddenly gripped by an urge tae gie her a wee tinkle.

2. (US black) a doorbell.

1944

D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 66: I did a heavy play on the tinkle that ain’t the way they toot up for scofftime.

3. money.

1984

Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 1237: [...] mid-C.20.

4. an act of urination, occas. urine.

1950		R. Starnes And When She Was Bad 97: It was Hollywood, from the kitchen to the two tinkle rooms, one pink and the other blue.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 19: The musical fall of the tinkle must have been a powerful turn on.
1978		L. Kramer Faggots 55: After all these years, you couldn’t keep your tinkle in?
1987		R. Campbell Alice in La-La Land (1999) 172: This little blonde [...] comes bouncing up the stairs on the way to have a tinkle.
1993		S. King Dolores Claiborne 26: I’d slip the bedpan under her every three hours, and she’d do a tinkle for me.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘Old Cases’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 4 [TV script] I gotta take a tinkle.
2013		IOL News On Line (S.Afr.) 7 Mar. 🌐 Not everybody is comfortable with the idea of someone else walking in while you’re taking a tinkle.
2017		Times Times2 6 Jan. 🌐 Most of us find there is little-to-no resale value in our tinkle.
2021		Twitter 10 Feb. 🌐 You are a softie. I used to do the same for Harvey [a dachshund] otherwise he wouldn’t go out for a tinkle.