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.)
Meanings
A spluttering or hissing sound.
Failure of an exploding nuclear bomb to meet its expected yield during testing.
pl fiasko (flop or dud) · bg шипене (spluttering or hissing sound) · fr bide (flop or dud) · da brusen (spluttering or hissing sound) · ru шипение (spluttering or hissing sound) · fr raté (flop or dud) · sv pysande (spluttering or hissing sound) · hy թեթև ֆշշոց (spluttering or hissing sound) · pl syk (spluttering or hissing sound) · fi pihinä (spluttering or hissing sound) · sv fräsande (spluttering or hissing sound)
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.)
Meanings
To sputter or hiss.
The soda fizzled for several minutes after it was poured.
It is the easest thing, sir, to be done, / As plain as fizzling. 1616, Ben Jonson, The Devil Is an Ass:
(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.
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. 2016 June 27, Daniel Taylor, “England humiliated as Iceland knock them out of Euro 2016”, in The Guardian, London:
I had a suspicion that Stephanie's native ingenuity rather fizzled there. You know, Stephanie dear, there is a difference, it seems, between Bombay and Californian pearls. 1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados:
(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.
ru потерпеть фиа́ско (to decay or die off to nothing) · fi pihistä (to splutter or hiss) · cmn （计划）流产 (to decay or die off to nothing) · es fundir (to decay or die off to nothing) · fi kuivua kokoon (to decay or die off to nothing) · pl zasyczeć (to splutter or hiss) · bg шипя (to splutter or hiss) · es menguar (to decay or die off to nothing) · bg провалям се (to decay or die off to nothing) · de im Sande verlaufen (to decay or die off to nothing) · de zu nichts führen (to decay or die off to nothing) · cs šumět (to splutter or hiss) · pl spalić na panewce (to decay or die off to nothing) · es fundirse apagarse (to decay or die off to nothing) · de fehlschlagen (to decay or die off to nothing) · fr pétiller (to splutter or hiss) · da bruse (to splutter or hiss) · de missglücken (to decay or die off to nothing) · cmn 失败 (to decay or die off to nothing) · ru шипе́ть (to splutter or hiss) · de totlaufen (to decay or die off to nothing) · pl syczeć (to splutter or hiss) · de zischen (to splutter or hiss) · ru выдохнуться (to decay or die off to nothing) · fr partir en fumée (to decay or die off to nothing) · da ebbe ud (to decay or die off to nothing) · pl brać w łeb (to decay or die off to nothing) · cs syčet (to splutter or hiss) · sv rinna ut i sanden (to decay or die off to nothing) · hy թշշալ (to splutter or hiss) · sv pysa (to splutter or hiss) · hy թեթև ֆշշալ (to splutter or hiss) · sv fräsa (to splutter or hiss) · es esfumarse (to decay or die off to nothing) · pl wziąć w łeb (to decay or die off to nothing)