(US) Any small firecracker sold to the general public, usually in special clusters designed to explode in series after a single master fuse is lit.
(archaic except in idioms) An unimportant, paltry, or mean-spirited person.
(automotive) The heating element used to set off the sodium azide pellets in a vehicle's airbag.
(dated) A short piece of witty writing; a lampoon.
(dated) A writer of lampoons.
(film, theater) In special effects, a small explosive used to replicate a bullet hitting a surface.
(firearms) A malfunction in which the fired projectile does not have enough force behind it to exit the barrel, and thus becomes stuck.
(graphic design) A sketched concept or visual solution, usually very quick and not too detailed.
(law) In a legal casebook, a short summary of a legal action placed between more extensively quoted cases.
(linguistics) 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.
(military) A small firework that is intended to spew sparks rather than explode.
(mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse.
A similar device used to ignite an explosive or launch a rocket, etc.
verb
(colloquial, dated, transitive, intransitive) To throw squibs; to utter sarcastic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute.
