Crossword clues for smatter
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Smatter \Smat"ter\, v. t.
To talk superficially about.
To gain a slight taste of; to acquire a slight, superficial knowledge of; to smack.
--Chaucer.
Smatter \Smat"ter\, n. Superficial knowledge; a smattering.
Smatter \Smat"ter\, v. i. [OE. smateren to make a noise; cf. Sw. smattra to clatter, to crackle, G. schmettern to dash, crash, to warble, quaver.]
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To talk superficially or ignorantly; to babble; to chatter.
Of state affairs you can not smatter.
--Swift. To have a slight taste, or a slight, superficial knowledge, of anything; to smack.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 15c., "talk idly, chatter; talk ignorantly or superficially," of uncertain origin, perhaps imitative. Similar forms are found in Middle High German smetern "to chatter" and Swedish smattra "to patter, rattle," and compare Danish snaddre "chatter, jabber," Dutch snateren, German schnattern "cackle, chatter, prattle." Related: Smattered; smattering.
Wiktionary
n. superficial knowledge; a smattering vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To talk superficially; to babble. 2 (context transitive English) To speak (a language) with spotty or superficial knowledge. 3 (context transitive figuratively English) To study or approach superficially; to dabble in. 4 To have a slight taste, or a slight, superficial knowledge, of anything; to smack.
WordNet
v. work with in a non-serious manner; "She dabbles in astronomy"; "He plays around with investments bu he never makes any money" [syn: dabble, play around]
to talk foolishly; "The two women babbled and crooned at the baby" [syn: babble, blather, blether, blither]
speak with spotty or superficial knowledge; "She smatters Russian"
Usage examples of "smatter".
The Bogue would be more strongly prepared for battle than the smattering of war junks near Hong Kong.
A few members of the drafting committee had been trained for military government and had a smattering of Japanese.
Brown-eyed Juliet Kei Fyne fought unruly red curls and bemoaned her smattering of freckles, and while she was shorter than her older sister, she was still of a nice height.
Security, along with a healthy smattering of soap stars and minor sporting figures, was a prerequisite of the traditional gangland funeral.
Trilobites and ostracoderms, mostly, with a silvery smattering of teleostean fish, a slimy slither of sea-slugs, and crusty clusters of shelled molluscs and calcichordates.
The murderers spilled into the countryside where the disease had trickled but not entirely blanketing that parish with pandemic, just a smattering that somehow randomly slew different men.
Our popular sciolism is different--it is a smattering not so much of facts as of points of view.
There was a little mining in the area, so there was always a smattering of miners in town buying supplies, getting cleaned up from several months out on their claims, or just raising a little hell before they went back to the supremely boring task of trying to wrest a little wealth from the bowels of stingy Mother Earth.
A smattering of theosophical lore, and a fondness for the speculations of such writers as Colonel Churchward and Lewis Spence concerning lost continents and primal forgotten civilisations, made Reynolds especially alert toward any aeonian relic like the unknown mummy.
Dayuma had forgotten a large part of it, and had unwittingly jumbled up Auca, Quichua, a smattering of Spanish, and a little English intonation for good measure.
Martin spoke neither Urdu nor the Baluchi dialect, and the man from Karachi spoke only a smattering of Pashto, with sign language and some Arabic from the Koran they got along well.
He slipped into Bengali, then a smattering of French, then a torrent of Hindi.
A smattering of botflies flitted closer to shore, of a different sort than Sou-Hon Perreault rode.
Normally my refrigerator contains leftover carryout, frozen dinners, condiments, coffee beans, Diet Coke, and milk, with a smattering of slimed-out produce in the bins.
The flag rippled from the nearby flagpole, and the flag halliard smattered rhythmically in the wind.