Definition of "fizzle" []

• To make a hissing or sputtering sound. (verb-intransitive)
• Informal To fail or end weakly, especially after a hopeful beginning. (verb-intransitive)
• Informal A failure; a fiasco. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The current market fizzle is an epiphenomenon this time around."
• "It is possible that the explosive yield was so low because North Korea made a mistake in their design or construction (a so-called "fizzle" -- though one that would still excavate a hundred-meter crater in a major city), or it is possible that they were intentionally trying to build a low-mass weapon that they could put on top of a missile."
• "A test is described as a fizzle when it fails to meet the desired yield."