FIZZLE

flop, bust, fizzle

(noun) a complete failure; “the play was a dismal flop”

hiss, hissing, hushing, fizzle, sibilation

(noun) a fricative sound (especially as an expression of disapproval); “the performers could not be heard over the hissing of the audience”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

fizzle (third-person singular simple present fizzles, present participle fizzling, simple past and past participle fizzled)

To sputter or hiss.

(figuratively) To decay or die off to nothing; to burn out; to end less successfully than previously hoped.

Noun

fizzle (plural fizzles)

A spluttering or hissing sound.

Failure of a nuclear bomb to meet its expected yield during testing.

An abortive effort; a flop or dud.

A state of agitation or worry.

Source: Wiktionary


Fiz"zle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fizzled; p. pr. & vb. n. Fizzling.] Etym: [See Fizz.]

1. To make a hissing sound. It is the easfizzling. B. Jonson.

2. To make a ridiculous failure in an undertaking. [Colloq. or Low] To fizzle out, to burn with a hissing noise and then go out, like wet gunpowder; hence, to fail completely and ridicuously; to prove a failure. [Colloq.]

Fiz"zle, n.

Definition: A failure or abortive effort. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

11 May 2025

MALLET

(noun) a light drumstick with a rounded head that is used to strike such percussion instruments as chimes, kettledrums, marimbas, glockenspiels, etc.


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Coffee Trivia

The average annual yield from one coffee tree is the equivalent of 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of roasted coffee. It takes about 4,000 hand-picked green coffee beans to make a pound of coffee.

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