squib Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun firework consisting of a tube filled with powder (as a broken firecracker) that burns with a fizzing noise

OE. squippen, swippen, to move swiftky, Icel. svipa to swoop, flash, dart, whip; akin to AS. swipian to whip, and E. swift, a. See Swift, a.

A little pipe, or hollow cylinder of paper, filled with powder or combustible matter, to be thrown into the air while burning, so as to burst there with a crack.
Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze. Waller.

The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . . . is punishable. Blackstone.
(Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse.
A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay.
Who copied his squibs, and reëchoed his jokes. Goldsmith.
A writer of lampoons. Obs.
The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. Tatler.
A paltry fellow. Obs. Spenser.

imperfect & past participle Squibbed ; present participle & verbal noun Squibbing

To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate. Colloq.