"smattering" in the noun sense
1. handful, smattering
a small number or amount
"only a handful of responses were received"
2. smattering
a slight or superficial understanding of a subject
"smattering" in the verb sense
1. dabble, smatter, play around
work with in an amateurish manner
"She dabbles in astronomy"
"He plays around with investments but he never makes any money"
2. babble, blather, smatter, blether, blither
to talk foolishly
"The two women babbled and crooned at the baby"
3. smatter
speak with spotty or superficial knowledge
"She smatters Russian"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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