Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Squib

Squib (skwib) , noun

[Old English squippen, swippen, to move swiftly, Icelandic svipa to swoop, flash, dart, whip; akin to Anglo-Saxon swipian to whip, and English 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 reechoed his jokes. — Goldsmith
4.
A writer of lampoons. [Obsolete]
The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. — Tatler
5.
A paltry fellow. [Obsolete] — Spenser

Squib (skwibd) , intransitive verb

To throw squibs; to utter sarcastic or severe reflections; to contend in petty dispute; as, to squib a little in debate. [Colloquial]