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.

The making and selling of fireworks and squibs, or throwing them about on any street, is […] punishable by fine.

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.

To make a sound like a small explosion.

A Snider squibbed in the jungle.

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

to squib a little debate

To dodge something difficult, to bottle.

He squibbed the opportunity to push the claim that Kyoto should remain the flagship for international action - because deep down those on the other side know that the world has moved on beyond Kyoto.