| squib | 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. <chemical> 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. "The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers." (Tatler) 5. A paltry fellow. Origin: 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. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|