squib

squib is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 5 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse.
  2. 2.A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay. Who copied his squibs, and reëchoed his jokes. Goldsmith.
  3. 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.
  4. 4.A paltry fellow. [Obs.] Spenser.
  5. 5.To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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