different between fuzzle vs fizzle

English

Etymology

Compare Low German fuseln (“to drink common liquor”), from fusel (“bad liquor”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?z?l/

Verb

fuzzle (third-person singular simple present fuzzles, present participle fuzzling, simple past and past participle fuzzled)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make drunk; to intoxicate.

English

Etymology

Attested in English since 1525-35. From earlier fysel (“to fart”). Related to f?sa (“to fart”). Compare with Swedish fisa (“to fart (silently)”). See also feist.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?f?z?l/
• Rhymes: -?z?l

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

Derived terms

• fizzler

Translations

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

Related terms

• fizz
• fizzy