fizzle

fizzle

1. verb To fail or weaken, often slowly over time. No, I don't have a back-up plan—I didn't expect this idea to fizzle so fast. Unfortunately, all of the delays have caused enthusiasm for this project to fizzle.

2. noun A failure or disappointment. Boy, that idea was a real fizzle. What are we going to do now?

3. slang A wildcard term that can be used in place of words beginning with "F," especially "fuck." What the fizzle is going on in here?

fizzle out

1. To become less effervescent or bubbly. This soda has fizzled out. I hate flat soda.

2. To fail or weaken, often slowly over time. No, I don't have a back-up plan—I didn't expect this idea to fizzle out so fast. Unfortunately, enthusiasm for this project has fizzled out after all of the delays.

See also: fizzle, out

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

fizzle out

 

1. Lit. [for a liquid] to lose its effervescence. This seltzer has fizzled out. I need a fresh glass of it.

2. Fig. [for an item in a fireworks display] to fail to operate properly, often producing only a hiss. That last rocket fizzled out. Set off another one. A lot of the fireworks fizzled out because it was raining.

3. Fig. to fade or become ineffectual gradually. The party began to fizzle out about midnight. The last clerk I hired fizzled out after the first week.

See also: fizzle, out

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

fizzle out

Fail, end weakly, especially after a hopeful beginning. For example, The enthusiasm for reform has fizzled out in this state. The word fizzle dates from the early 1500s and meant "to break wind without making noise." Later it was applied to hissing noises, such as those made by wet fireworks, and then to any endeavor that ends in disappointment. [Colloquial; mid-1800s]

See also: fizzle, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fizzle out

v.

To come gradually to an end by growing fainter, weaker, less active, or less frequent: I lit the fuse of the firecracker, but it fizzled out. The party finally fizzled out after midnight.

See also: fizzle, out

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fizzle

(ˈfɪzlæ)

1. n. a failure; something that sputters away. The whole project was a fizzle.

2. in. to fail; to peter out. The whole plan fizzled, and we had to start over.

3. and a wild card word for words beginning with F , such as fuck, fool. (Streets. Also for other words with initial F.) That dude is such a fizzle!

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.