[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

smattering \smat"tering\, n.
   a slight, superficial knowledge of something; sciolism.
   1913 webster

         i had a great desire, not able to attain to a
         superficial skill in any, to have some smattering in
         all.                                     --burton.
   1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

smattering
     n 1: a small number or amount; "only a handful of responses were
          received" syn: handful
     2: a slight or superficial understanding of a subject
see also:
handful 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

72 moby thesaurus words for "smattering":
   a little learning, amateurism, cast, coquetry, dabbling, dalliance,
   dallying, dash, dilettantism, dilettantship, few, fiddling,
   flirtation, fooling, fooling around, gleam, glimmering, glimpse,
   half-learning, handful, hint, idea, idling, imperfect knowledge,
   intimation, jerking off, kidding around, lick, loitering, look,
   messing around, monkeying, monkeying around, piddling, playing,
   playing around, pottering, puttering, scattering, scintilla,
   sciolism, semi-learning, shade, shadow, shallowness, sip,
   slight knowledge, smack, smatter, smattering of ignorance,
   smattering of knowledge, smell, soupcon, spark, spatter,
   spattering, sprinkling, suggestion, sup, superficiality,
   surface-scratching, suspicion, taste, thought, tincture, tinge,
   tinkering, touch, toying, trace, trifling, vague notion

Smattering >> S Words
Smattering, definition of term: Smattering
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