WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Squib
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [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.]
Definition : 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)

Defn: 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 re?choed 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.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Squib
Part of Speech : v.
Definition : Defn: To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate. [Colloq.]

i. [imp. & p. p. Squibbed; p. pr. & vb. n. Squibbing.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913