Standard Lemma guide

squib

noun · verb · 18 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /skwɪb/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪb

1

noun

Meaning 1

A small firework that is intended to spew sparks rather than explode.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, military, politics, war

Examples

  • English Navy squibs set fire to two dozen enemy ships in a Dutch harbor during the 16th-century battle against the Spanish Armada.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A similar device used to ignite an explosive or launch a rocket, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A kind of slow match or safety fuse.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: business, mining

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any small firecracker sold to the general public, usually in special clusters designed to explode in series after a single master fuse is lit.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A malfunction in which the fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: engineering, firearms, government, military, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, politics, tools, war, weaponry

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

The heating element used to set off the sodium azide pellets in a vehicle's airbag.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: automotive, transport, vehicles

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

In special effects, a small explosive used to replicate a bullet hitting a surface or a gunshot wound on an actor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: broadcasting, entertainment, film, lifestyle, media, television, theater

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A short piece of witty writing; a lampoon.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

A writer of lampoons.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: dated

Examples

  • November 1, 1709, Richard Steele, The Tatler The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libellers, lampooners, and pamphleteers.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

noun

Meaning 10

In a legal casebook, a short summary of a legal action placed between more extensively quoted cases.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

noun

Meaning 11

A short article, often published in journals, that introduces theoretically problematic empirical data or discusses an overlooked theoretical problem. In contrast to a typical article, a squib need not answer the questions that it poses.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

An unimportant, paltry, or mean-spirited person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: archaic except in idioms

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

noun

Meaning 13

A sketched concept or visual solution, usually very quick and not too detailed.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: arts, graphic-design

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

noun

Meaning 14

A coward or wimp.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

verb

Meaning 15

To make a sound like a small explosion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • A Snider squibbed in the jungle.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

verb

Meaning 16

To throw squibs; to utter sarcastic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: ambitransitive, colloquial, dated

Examples

  • to squib a little debate

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

17

verb

Meaning 17

To dodge something difficult, to bottle.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

18

noun

Meaning 18

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

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: firework, pyrotechnic

History

Etymology

Possibly imitative of a small explosion.

Across languages

Translations

25 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: бомбичка (bombička) — small firework
  • Czech: prskací petarda — small firework
  • Czech: rachejtle — small firework
  • Finnish: sähikäinen — small firework
  • German: Knallfrosch — small firework
  • Irish: pléascáinín — small firework
  • Punjabi: ਚਕਚੂੰਧਰ (cakcūndhar) — small firework
  • Turkish: fişek — small firework
  • Bulgarian: запалка (zapalka) — device used to ignite a rocket
  • Dutch: lont — device used to ignite a rocket
  • German: Zündschnur — device used to ignite a rocket
  • Czech: krátká satira — short piece of witty writing
  • German: Glosse — short piece of witty writing
  • Icelandic: háðsgrein — short piece of witty writing
  • Icelandic: níðkvæði — short piece of witty writing
  • Icelandic: stutt — short piece of witty writing
  • Irish: aoir — short piece of witty writing
  • Irish: burdún cáinte — short piece of witty writing
  • Portuguese: pílula — short piece of witty writing
  • Bulgarian: памфлет (pamflet) — short article, often published in a journal
  • French: notule — short article, often published in a journal
  • Bulgarian: гърмя (gǎrmja) — make a sound such as a small explosion
  • Dutch: ploffen — make a sound such as a small explosion
  • Czech: zesměšňovat — to make sarcastic remarks
  • Czech: parodovat — to make sarcastic remarks