fizzle

Pronunciation: /ˈfɪzəl/

The English word “fizzle” has 7 meanings listed here.

verb

To sputter or hiss.
To decay or die off to nothing; to burn out; to end less successfully than previously hoped.
To fail to generate the expected yield when exploded during testing.

noun

A spluttering or hissing sound.
Failure of an exploding nuclear bomb to meet its expected yield during testing.
An abortive effort; a flop or dud.
A state of agitation or worry.

Etymology

Attested in English since 1525-35. From earlier fysel (“to fart”). Related to fīsa (“to fart”). Compare with Swedish fisa (“to fart (silently)”). See also feist. It could also come from old Norse: "fise" simply means "blow," like in "blow in the wind." A weather-exposed community in Rogaland, Norway, is called Fister. (In modern language, the verb "fisle" has the same 3 meanings as in English,…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.