squib

Meanings

Noun

• A small firework that is intended to spew sparks rather than explode.
• A similar device used to ignite an explosive or launch a rocket, etc.
• A kind of slow match or safety fuse.
• Any small firecracker sold to the general public, usually in special clusters designed to explode in series after a single master fuse is lit.
• A malfunction in which the fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck.
• The heating element used to set off the sodium azide pellets in a vehicle's airbag.
• In special effects, a small explosive used to replicate a bullet hitting a surface.
• A short piece of witty writing; a lampoon.
• A writer of lampoons.
• In a legal casebook, a short summary of a legal action placed between more extensively quoted cases.
• A short article, often published in journals, that introduces theoretically problematic empirical data or discusses an overlooked theoretical problem. In contrast to a typical article, a squib need not answer the questions that it poses.
• An unimportant, paltry, or mean-spirited person.
• A sketched concept or visual solution, usually very quick and not too detailed.

Verb

• To make a sound like a small explosion.
• To throw squibs; to utter sarcastic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute.

Origin

• Possibly imitative of a small explosion.