Smidgen vs Scintilla - What's the difference?
smidgen | scintilla |
A very small quantity or amount.
A small spark or flash.
* 1890 , Philosophical Magazine ,
A small or trace amount.
* 1876 February, ,
* 1878 April, ,
* 1990 , ,
----
As nouns the difference between smidgen and scintilla
is that smidgen is a very small quantity or amount while scintilla is a small spark or flash.smidgen
English
Alternative forms
* smidge, smidgeon, smidginNoun
(en noun)- Would you like some more cake? — I'll have a smidgen .
- Move it a smidgen to the right.
Usage notes
Some cookbooks and manufacturers of kitchen measurement sets have attempted to define a smidgen' for recipes. Anything between 1/25th and 1/48th of a teaspoon may be found, 1/32nd being perhaps the most commonly used. Other commonly used measures for small amounts include tad, dash, pinch, and drop. There seems to be some consensus of tad being the largest in this set and ' smidgen being larger than a drop but smaller than a pinch.Synonyms
* see * hair's breadthscintilla
English
(wikipedia scintilla)Noun
(en-noun)page 364,
- If the action of the electrodynamic waves is so violent that, even without artificial electrification of the secondary conductor, scintillæ occur in its spark-gap, the aluminium leaves remain almost without change.
- And, if I except the sagacious remark of General Duane which has been so curtly brushed aside, not a scintilla of light has been cast upon these causes by any researches ever published by the Lighthouse Board of Washington.
- Now, it may be we have no scintilla of proof to the contrary, but reason is unnecessary in reference to that belief which is of all the most settled, which nobody doubts or can doubt, and which he who should deny would stultify himself in so doing.
- Current medical practice recommends use of heroic measures if there is a scintilla of a chance that the patient will recover, on the assumption that the measures will be discontinued should the patient improve.