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squib

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squib

  [skwib] ,noun, verb, squibbed, squib⋅bing.
Use squib in a Sentence
–noun
1. a short and witty or sarcastic saying or writing.
2. Journalism. a short news story, often used as a filler.
3. a small firework, consisting of a tube or ball filled with powder, that burns with a hissing noise terminated usually by a slight explosion.
4. a firecracker broken in the middle so that it burns with a hissing noise but does not explode.
5. Australian. a coward.
6. an electric, pyrotechnic device for firing the igniter of a rocket engine, esp. a solid-propellant engine.
7. Obsolete. a mean or paltry fellow.
–verb (used without object)
8. to write squibs.
9. to shoot a squib.
10. to explode with a small, sharp sound.
11. to move swiftly and irregularly.
12. Australian.
a. to be afraid.
b. to flee; escape.
–verb (used with object)
13. to assail in squibs or lampoons.
14. to toss, shoot, or utilize as a squib.
Origin:
1515–25; orig. uncert.

Related forms:
squibbish, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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squib   (skwĭb)   
n.  

    1. A small firecracker.

    2. A broken firecracker that burns but does not explode.

    3. A brief satirical or witty writing or speech, such as a lampoon.

    4. A short, sometimes humorous piece in a newspaper or magazine, usually used as a filler.

    1. A brief satirical or witty writing or speech, such as a lampoon.

    2. A short, sometimes humorous piece in a newspaper or magazine, usually used as a filler.

v.   squibbed, squib·bing, squibs

v.   intr.
To write or utter squibs.
v.   tr.

  1. To write or utter squibs against; lampoon.

  2. Football To kick (the ball) low on a kickoff so that it bounces along the ground.


[Probably imitative.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
squib [skʍɪb]

  1. n.
    a notice; a small advertisement. : There was a squib in the paper about your project.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

squib 
c.1525, "short bit of sarcastic writing, witty scoff," of unknown origin. If the meaning "small firework that burns with a hissing noise" (attested from 1530) is the original one, the word may be imitative.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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