Squib (?), n. [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.]

1.

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.

2. Mining

A kind of slow match or safety fuse.

3.

A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay.

Who copied his squibs, and reechoed his jokes. Goldsmith.

4.

A writer of lampoons.

[Obs.]

The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. Tatler.

5.

A paltry fellow.

[Obs.]

Spenser.

 

© Webster 1913.


Squib, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Squibbed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Squibbing.]

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

[Colloq.]

 

© Webster 1913.