fizzle

English

WOTD – 10 August 2009

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, see below.)

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈfɪzəl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɪzəl

Verb

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

1. To sputter or hiss.

   The soda fizzled for several minutes after it was poured.

   • 1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass:

     It is the easest thing, sir, to be done, / As plain as fizzling.

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

   The entire project fizzled after the founder quit.

   • 2016 June 27, Daniel Taylor, “England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016”, in The Guardian‎^[1], London:

     And so it fizzled to its close with Gary Cahill galloping around as an extra centre-forward, mutinous chants of “you’re not fit to wear the shirt,” from the England followers and Hodgson’s media staff announcing he would not take any questions.

3. (military, of a nuclear weapon) To fail to generate the expected yield when exploded during testing.

   The shot fizzled, generating only 200 tons rather than the 30 kilotons they were aiming for.

Derived terms

• fizzler
• fizzle out

Translations

to splutter or hiss

• Armenian: թեթև ֆշշալ (tʻetʻew fššal), թշշալ (hy) (tʻššal)
• Bulgarian: шипя (šipja)
• Czech: šumět (cs) impf, syčet (cs) impf
• Danish: bruse
• Finnish: pihistä
• German: zischen (de)
• Russian: шипе́ть (ru) (šipétʹ)
• Swedish: fräsa (sv), pysa (sv)

to decay or die off to nothing

• Bulgarian: провалям се (provaljam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 失败 (zh) (shībài), （计划）流产

• Danish: ebbe ud
• Finnish: kuivua kokoon (fi)
• German: im Sande verlaufen (de), totlaufen, zu nichts führen, fehlschlagen (de), missglücken (de)
• Polish: spalić na panewce (pl)
• Russian: потерпеть фиа́ско (poterpetʹ fiásko), выдохнуться (ru) pf (vydoxnutʹsja)
• Spanish: fundir (es), apagar (es), menguar (es)
• Swedish: rinna ut i sanden (sv)

Noun

fizzle (plural fizzles)

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

Usage notes

In the context of nuclear testing, a fizzle (an explosion with inadequate yield) is distinguished from a dud (a failure to explode at all).

Translations

spluttering or hissing sound

• Armenian: թեթև ֆշշոց (tʻetʻew fššocʻ)
• Bulgarian: шипене (šipene)
• Danish: brusen c
• Finnish: pihinä
• Russian: шипение (ru) n (šipenije)
• Swedish: fräsande (sv), pysande (sv)

Related terms

• fizz
• fizzy