squi

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lampoons, like squibs, may make a present blaze. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

The making and selling of fireworks, and squibs . . . is punishable. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) A kind of slow match or safety fuse. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sarcastic speech or publication; a petty lampoon; a brief, witty essay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who copied his squibs, and reechoed his jokes. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A writer of lampoons. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The squibs are those who in the common phrase of the world are called libelers, lampooners, and pamphleteers. Tatler. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A paltry fellow. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Squirt. ] 1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of ten-armed cephalopods having a long, tapered body, and a caudal fin on each side; especially, any species of Loligo, Ommastrephes, and related genera. See Calamary, Decacerata, Dibranchiata. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Some of these squids are very abundant on the Atlantic coast of North America, and are used in large quantities for bait, especially in the cod fishery. The most abundant of the American squids are the northern squid (Ommastrephes illecebrosus), ranging from Southern New England to Newfoundland, and the southern squid (Loligo Pealii), ranging from Virginia to Massachusetts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fishhook with a piece of bright lead, bone, or other substance, fastened on its shank to imitate a squid. [ 1913 Webster ]

Flying squid,
Giant squid. (Zool.) See under Flying, and Giant. --
Squid hound (Zool.), the striped bass. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A square. See 1st Squire. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Not the worst of the three but jumps twelve foot and a half by the squier. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ OF. escuierie. See Esquire. ] A company of squires; the whole body of squires. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This word is found in Tyrwhitt's Chaucer, but is not in the modern editions. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Somewhat intoxicated; tipsy. [ Slang ] Kipling. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. [ Cf. Squirm, Wiggle. ] To move about like an eel; to squirm. [ Low, U.S. ] Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. Prov. E. swiggle to drink greedily, to shake liquor in a close vessel, and E. swig. ] To shake and wash a fluid about in the mouth with the lips closed. [ Prov. Eng. ] Forby. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Formerly, a small swab for drying a vessel's deck; now, a kind of scraper having a blade or edge of rubber or of leather, -- used for removing superfluous water or other liquids, as from a vessel's deck after washing, from window panes, photographer's plates, etc. [ Written also squillgee, squillagee, squeegee. ] [ 1913 Webster ]