recoil
verb
re·coil
| \ ri-ˈkȯi(-ə)l
\
\
recoiled;
recoiling;
recoils
Definition of recoil
(Entry 1 of 2)
1a
: to fall back under pressure
b
: to shrink back physically or emotionally
2
: to spring back to or as if to a starting point : rebound
recoil
noun
re·coil
| \ ˈrē-ˌkȯi(-ə)l
, ri-ˈkȯi(-ə)l\
, ri-ˈkȯi(-ə)l\
Definition of recoil (Entry 2 of 2)
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Synonyms for recoil
Synonyms: Verb
blench, cringe, flinch, quail, shrink, squinch, wince
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Examples of recoil in a Sentence
Verb
We recoiled in horror at the sight of his wounded arm. He recoiled from her touch. The rifle recoiled and bruised my shoulder.Noun
The gun has a sharp recoil.
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Wide-eyed and covering her mouth with her right arm, the actress appears to be recoiling from something just out of frame. — Joey Nolfi, EW.com, "Last Night in Soho," 31 Aug. 2019 The crux of the scene occurs when Victor gropes the actress under the table, causing her to recoil and spill wine on her shirt. — Rand Richards Cooper, courant.com, "In Our Midst: A Jersey Boy in Connecticut," 14 Aug. 2019 Three directors said Pak deserved the honor while the other three recoiled, citing the agency’s policy of solely identifying public transit stops by their geographic location. — Rachel Swan, SFChronicle.com, "Amid protests, SF board names Chinatown subway station after Rose Pak," 20 Aug. 2019 Rather than recoil under the heat, the U.S. players doubled down on their joy. — Sean Gregory, Time, "Lots of People Wanted Team USA to Apologize or Fail. Their World Cup Win Is One of the Greatest Responses in Sports," 7 July 2019 There between the highway and the ocean they were anchored to the rails with outriggings on either side, and prepared for the terrific explosion and recoil. — Scott Harrison, latimes.com, "From the Archives: 14-inch railroad guns fired near Oceanside," 11 June 2019 And in a brief #MeToo moment, Lindsay Ammann’s Maddalena recoiled from the Duke’s brutal advances. — Heidi Waleson, WSJ, "Opera Theatre of Saint Louis Review: Wrenching Drama and Vicious Satire," 25 June 2019 Many professional, suburban women — a critical voting bloc in the 2020 election — recoil at the abrasive, divisive rhetoric, exposing the president to a potential wave of opposition in key battlegrounds across the country. — Scott Bauer, The Denver Post, "Suburban women recoil as Trump dives back into racially divisive rhetoric," 30 July 2019 Attendance matters everywhere, but especially at Oracle, where the Giants have a spectacular long-term track record and recoil at the sight of empty seats. — Bruce Jenkins, SFChronicle.com, "Giants lose, but festive mood is refreshing," 20 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
This would allow experimentalists to view a spectrum of recoils, corroborating their evidence and potentially allowing them to draw conclusions about WIMP mass, Freese said. — Quanta Magazine, "Why the Best Place to Find Dark Matter May Be in a Rock," 7 Jan. 2019 With hyperburst, the G11’s recoil buffer prevented a strong recoil impulse from the three rounds, greatly improving accuracy over normal full-auto fire. — Matthew Moss, Popular Mechanics, "We Got Our Hands on an HK G11, the Space-Age Rifle That Never Was," 20 Mar. 2019 All walk mowers have pull start (recoil) handles—even those with a key ignition. — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, "The 7 Best Self-Propelled Lawn Mowers," 11 Apr. 2019 Mandus Group, a defense contractor that specializes in field artillery maintenance, figured out that the key to reducing howitzer weight was to reduce recoil. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "This Humvee-Mounted Howitzer Is Here To "Shoot and Scoot"," 20 Sep. 2017 What happens when a drone has a recoil momentum equal to the momentum of a fireball? — Rhett Allain, WIRED, "The Physics of Launching Fireworks From a Drone," 4 July 2018 When asked to explain his actions, the linebacker who crushed the quarterback, forcing him from the game with injuries to the back and knee, delivered an answer that made many recoil: his coaches told him to do it. — Ken Belson, New York Times, "The Football Hit Felt All Over Japan," 22 May 2018 Related The firearms industry is marketing silencers, also known as suppressors, as hearing protection for shooters and a way to soften the recoil on guns. — Dan Frosch, WSJ, "Why More Gun Owners Use Silencers," 5 May 2018 Overall, DAMA’s signal should be strongest for the very-lowest-energy recoils. — Natalie Wolchover, WIRED, "Trouble Detected in Infamous Dark Matter Signal," 18 Apr. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'recoil.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for recoil
recoil
verb
English Language Learners Definition of recoil
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to quickly move away from something that is shocking, frightening, or disgusting : to react to something with shock or fear
of a gun
: to move back suddenly when fired
recoil
noun
English Language Learners Definition of recoil (Entry 2 of 2)
: the sudden backward movement of a gun that happens when the gun is fired
See the full definition for recoil in the English Language Learners Dictionary
recoil
verb