squib

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.”

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

A kind of slow match or safety fuse.

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

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

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

In special effects, a small explosive used to replicate a bullet hitting a surface.

A short piece of witty writing; a lampoon.

A writer of lampoons.

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

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.

An unimportant, paltry, or mean-spirited person or thing.

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

To make a sound like a small explosion.

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

“to squib a little debate”