squib
Americannoun
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a short and witty or sarcastic saying or writing.
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Journalism. a short news story, often used as a filler.
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a small firework, consisting of a tube or ball filled with powder, that burns with a hissing noise terminated usually by a slight explosion.
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a firecracker broken in the middle so that it burns with a hissing noise but does not explode.
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Australian. a coward.
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an electric, pyrotechnic device for firing the igniter of a rocket engine, especially a solid-propellant engine.
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Obsolete. a mean or paltry fellow.
verb (used without object)
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squibs,
present (3rd person singular)
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squibbed,
past participle, past
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squibbing
present participle
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to write squibs.
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to shoot a squib.
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to explode with a small, sharp sound.
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to move swiftly and irregularly.
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Australian.
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to be afraid.
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to flee; escape.
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verb (used with object)
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squibs,
present (3rd person singular)
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squibbed,
past participle, past
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squibbing
present participle
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to assail in squibs or lampoons.
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to toss, shoot, or utilize as a squib.
noun
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a firework, usually having a tube filled with gunpowder, that burns with a hissing noise and culminates in a small explosion
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a firework that does not explode because of a fault; dud
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a short witty attack; lampoon
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an electric device for firing a rocket engine
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obsolete an insignificant person
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slang a coward
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something intended but failing to impress
verb
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(intr) to sound, move, or explode like a squib
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(intr) to let off or shoot a squib
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to write a squib against (someone)
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(intr) to move in a quick irregular fashion
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slang (intr) to behave in a cowardly fashion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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squibsimple
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squibssimple
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have squibbedperfect
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has squibbedperfect
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am squibbingprogressive
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are squibbingprogressive
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is squibbingprogressive
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have been squibbingperfect progressive
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has been squibbingperfect progressive
Past
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squibbedsimple
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had squibbedperfect
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was squibbingprogressive
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were squibbingprogressive
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had been squibbingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of squib
First recorded in 1515–25; origin uncertain
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Advisory firm Oxford Economics said the direct impact on Iran's revenues would be "somewhat of a damp squib".
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Polling expert John Curtice told the BBC that Farage had been hoping for a "very substantial political circus" but may end up with a "relatively damp squib" if no one challenges him properly.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
But the much-anticipated showdown between two Heisman-candidate quarterbacks and national championship-quality teams had been a damp squib over the first two quarters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
Kicking under the new format feels more like “shanking” a kickoff than doing a squib kick, as Dicker put it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2024
There was little Clarice in a corner with some boy off the estate, she was smiling happily, squealing with delight as a squib spluttered at her feet.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Getting scant response beyond a few scattered news squibs, the CDC dropped the abuse issue entirely in its follow-up 2023 report.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2023
It was, instead, the dampest of damp squibs, published after quite the bust-up behind closed doors.
From BBC ● May 3, 2023
More the whiff of damp squibs than cordite.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 1, 2020
However, digging today into The Seattle Times’ online archive, I find that social squibs often help reveal the story of a vintage edifice.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 5, 2019
But there was also a generous distribution of squibs, crackers, backarappers, sparklers, torches, dwarf-candles, elf-fountains, goblin-barkers and thunder-claps.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Harvey jammed Bryson Stott, who squibbed a grounder to the left side.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 14, 2022
Upton grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out, and Pujols, the slow-footed slugger, squibbed a grounder to the right of the mound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2018
Pinch hitter Jorge Orta squibbed a grounder towards first; Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark charged in and tossed the ball to reliever Todd Worrell, who ran to cover the bag.
From Time ● Oct. 14, 2014
The ball squibbed along the ground and came to rest at the 15-yard line.
From New York Times ● Dec. 30, 2013
Total result of one of these firework displays: several thousand rounds of ammunition squibbed off, hundreds of star shells wasted, and no casualties.
From Bullets & Billets by Bruce Bairnsfather
But in the aftermath, many questioned why Buffalo sent its kickoff into the end zone rather than squibbing it to force a return and take critical seconds off the clock.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
After the Sun Devils nearly broke another return, USC opted to go with its other kicking option, Michael Brown, who resolved to simply squibbing kickoffs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2019
Earlier this week, special teams coach John Baxter noted that USC struggled with squibbing kicks and thus would avoid that strategy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2019
The brawny Fielder had the only hit between them in the ninth, squibbing an infield single up the middle.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2011
Since Tennyson's elevation to the peerage there has been an infinite amount of squibbing at his expense, and some very good parodies upon his poems have been circulated.
From Home Life of Great Authors by Hattie Tyng Griswold
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
