\Squib\, n. [OE. squippen, swippen, to move swiftky, Icel.
svipa to swoop, flash, dart, whip; akin to AS. swipian to
whip, and E. swift, a. See {Swift}, a.]
1. A little pipe, or hollow cylinder of paper, filled with
   powder or combustible matter, to be thrown into the air
   while burning, so as to burst there with a crack.
         Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze.
                                               --Waller.
         The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . .
         . is punishable.                      --Blackstone.
2. (Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse.
3. A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a
   brief, witty essay.
         Who copied his squibs, and re["e]choed his jokes.
                                               --Goldsmith.
4. A writer of lampoons. [Obs.]
         The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the
         world are called libelers, lampooners, and
         pamphleteers.                         --Tatler.
5. A paltry fellow. [Obs.] --Spenser.

\Squib\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Squibbed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Squibbing}.]
To throw squibs; to utter sarcatic or severe reflections; to
contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little debate.
[Colloq.]