Squib (skwĭb), n. [OE. squippen, swippen, to move swiftly, 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 reëchoed his jokes. Goldsmith.
4. A writer of lampoons.
The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. Tatler.
5. A paltry fellow. Spenser.