recoil

1.

/riˈkɔɪl/

spring back; spring away from an impact

2.

/ˈriˌkɔɪl/

the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired

Other forms: recoiled; recoiling; recoils

A recoil is a movement backwards, usually from some force or impact. The recoil of a gun is a backward movement caused by momentum. Your trip to the shooting range might make your mom recoil — from horror, not momentum.

Recoil has both a verb and a noun form, meaning any kind of rebound or spring backwards. It doesn’t even have to be from an actual force. You might recoil when you see a snake, or recoil at the thought of having to eat squid. In those cases it’s more like a cringe or a flinch from something that’s scary, disgusting, or painful. Eating squid might in fact be all of those things to you.

Definitions of recoil (/riˈkɔɪl/)

1. verb

   spring back; spring away from an impact
   synonyms: bounce, bound, rebound, resile, reverberate, ricochet, spring, take a hop

   types:

   kick, kick back

   spring back, as from a forceful thrust

   bound off, skip

   bound off one point after another

   carom

   rebound after hitting

   type of:

   bound, jump, leap, spring

   move forward by leaps and bounds
2. verb

   spring back, as from a forceful thrust
   synonyms: kick, kick back

   type of:

   bounce, bound, rebound, resile, reverberate, ricochet, spring, take a hop

   spring back; spring away from an impact
3. verb

   draw back, as with fear or pain
   synonyms: cringe, flinch, funk, quail, shrink, squinch, wince

   types:

   retract, shrink back

   pull away from a source of disgust or fear

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
4. verb

   come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect
   synonyms: backfire, backlash

   type of:

   come about, fall out, go on, hap, happen, occur, pass, pass off, take place

   come to pass