Proper noun

1. A fairy, a companion of Peter Pan, who depends on the faith of others to live.
   • 2008 February 2, Peter Sagal, Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, National Public Radio

     he started saying things like “We support our troops,” and “Americans are the greatest!” and “Clap if you want Tinkerbell to live!”

2. Anything the existence or power of which depends on the faith of believers.
   • 1988, Caroline Arden, Getting the Donkey Out of the Ditch: The Democratic Party in Search of Itself, page 104

     I characterize it as the "Tinkerbell Approach" to policy development: It might work if all the children would just believe hard enough and clap their hands

   • 1994, Alice Thomas Ellis, Cat Among the Pigeons: A Catholic Miscellany, page 57

     Sometimes I get the impression that the Tinkerbell theory is taking over: that the existence of God is dependent on our own existence and perceptions.

   • 2003, William Lehr, Lorenzo M. Pupillo, Cyber policy and economics in an internet age, page 92

     The New.net venture underlined an important principle: ICANN's authority over the DNS root is fundamentally subject to the "Tinkerbell" principle.