To fail or end in a disappointing way, often quietly or gradually, or to make a weak hissing or sputtering sound.
From Middle English 'fise' (to break wind) combined with the suffix '-le' (to make a repeated sound). The word originally described an embarrassing bodily sound, but gradually came to mean any weak, disappointing ending—the onomatopoeia shifted from crude to comic to metaphorical.
Try Another Word