What does "squib" mean?

Squib: (Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay. Who copied his squibs, and reëchoed his jokes. Goldsmith.
  2. 3.A writer of lampoons. [Obs.] The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. Tatler.
  3. 4.A paltry fellow. [Obs.] Spenser.
  4. 5.To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate. [Colloq.]

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