Squib (weblog)
WordNet

noun


(1)   Firework consisting of a tube filled with powder (as a broken firecracker) that burns with a fizzing noise
WiktionaryText

Noun



  1. A small firework that is intended to spew sparks rather than explode.
    English Navy squibs set fire to two dozen enemy ships in a Dutch harbor during the 16th century battle against the Spanish Armada.
  2. A similar device used to ignite an explosive or launch a rocket, etc.
  3. Any small firecracker sold to the general public. Usually available in special clusters designed to explode in series after a single master fuze is lit.
  4. A small explosive used to replicate a bullet hitting a surface.
  5. A short piece of witty writing; a lampoon.
  6. In a legal casebook, a short summary of a legal action placed between more fully cited cases.
  7. A short article, often published in journals, that introduces empirical data problematic to linguistic theory or discusses an overlooked theoretical problem. In contrast to a typical linguistic article, a squib need not answer the questions that it poses.
    • 2008, William J. Idsardi, Combinatorics for Metrical Feet, in Biolinguistics Vol 2, No 2
      In this squib I will prove that the number of possible metrical parsings into feet under these assumptions […]
  8. An unimportant, paltry, or mean-spirited person.

Usage notes


In the Harry Potter series, author J. K. Rowling uses squib to mean a child of someone magical who doesn’t have magical powers.

Verb



  1. To make a sound such as a small explosion.
    A Snider squibbed in the jungle.
 
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