tinker; metal-repairer
Historical occupation; a person who repaired metal pots, kettles, and other household metalware by patching or soldering. Now rare as a profession.
In the old days, tinkers went around repairing pots and kettles.
Standard kanji spelling for a tinker or metal-repairer.
Variant spelling without the okurigana け.
Compound of 鋳掛け (いかけ, 'metal repair by casting/patching') and 屋 (や, 'shop' or 'person'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word describes a traditional itinerant repairer of metalware.