to smatter color
- phrasal verb
- US
- The artist likes to smatter color across the wall to make the mural more dynamic.
Examples
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She decided to smatter color on the canvas to create a lively effect.
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Don't smatter color all over the walls!
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At the children's festival, volunteers smattered color over the white t-shirts for fun.
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She decided to smatter color on the canvas.
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At the children's festival, volunteers smattered color over the white t-shirts for fun.
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She decided to smatter color on the canvas to create a lively effect.
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The artist likes to smatter color across the wall to make the mural more dynamic.
Synonyms
To spread small things like leaves or seeds over an area without order
To put patches of color on a surface
To cover something with many small spots of a different color
To mark a surface with small spots of color or light
To make small spots of a different color on something
To make something have uneven spots or patches of color
To put uneven marks of color or liquid on a surface
To cover with small drops or spots like mud and paint
To paint quickly in a messy, uneven way
How Painted
- US
- Specialized
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'smatter' means to scatter or dot small amounts and combined with the noun 'color' yields a directly compositional meaning of applying color in a scattered/irregular way. This follows a normal verb + object construction and is predictable from the constituents, so a learner who knows both words would understand the phrase.
Etymology
The verb smatter color comes from the idea of smatter meaning small, scattered marks of paint, like tiny drops or quick brush touches on a shirt or wall. So smatter color means 'to put color on a surface in quick, scattered spots'.