Recoil

English

Noun

Recoil (plural Recoils)

1. (firearms) The amount of energy transmitted back to the shooter from a firearm which has fired. Recoil is a function of the weight of the weapon, the weight of the projectile, and the speed at which it leaves the muzzle.

Verb

Recoil (third-person singular simple present recoils, present participle recoiling, simple past and past participle recoiled)

1. To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment.

   He recoiled in disgust when he saw the mess.

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To retire, withdraw.
   • 1590, Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene, I.x:

     Ye both forwearied be: therefore a whyle / Iread you rest, and to your bowres recoyle.

Derived terms

• recoil on

Adjectives for Recoil

vicious; impetuous; silent; tardy; nervous.

Adverbs for Recoil

instinctively; involuntarily; modestly; impatiently; impetuously; nervously; abruptly; abnormally; tremblingly.

Thesaurus

about the bush, antagonism, antipathy, avoid, avoidance, backfire, backlash, backlashing, backwash, balk, bashfulness, beat around, beg the question, blanch, blench, blink, boggle, boggling, boomerang, bounce, bounce back, bound, bound back, cannon, cannon off, carom, clashing, clout, collision, comeback, compunction, conflict, confutation, contradiction, contraposition, contrariety, contrecoup, counter, counteraction, counterblast, counterblow, counterposition, counterstroke, counterworking, crankiness, cringe, crotchetiness, demur, demurral, diffidence, disapprove of, dissent, dodge, draw back, duck, equivocate, evade, evasion, exchange, fade, fall back, fallback, falter, faltering, fence, fight shy of, flinch, fly back, force, friction, funk, give-and-take, grimace, hang back, hang off, have qualms, have repercussions, hedge, hem and haw, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitate, hesitation, hold off, impact, impress, impression, imprint, interchange, interference, jib, kick, kick back, kickback, lash back, look askance at, make bones about, mark, modesty, nonconformity, objection, opposition, opposure, oppugnance, oppugnancy, parry, pause, perverseness, print, protest, pull away, pull back, pullback, pullout, pussyfoot, put off, quail, quake, qualm, qualm of conscience, qualmishness, reaction, rebound, rebuff, recalcitrance, recalcitrate, recalcitration, reciprocation, reel back, reflex, renitency, repercuss, repercussion, reply, repugnance, repulse, resile, resilience, resistance, response, retaliation, retort, retreat, return, revolt, revolt at, ricochet, scruple, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, shake, sheer off, shift, shift off, show distaste for, shrink, shrink back, shrink from, shrinking, shudder, shudder at, shy, shy at, shy away, shy off, shyness, sidestep, sidestepping, snap back, spring, spring back, squinch, start, start aside, start back, step aside, stick, stick at, stickle, stickling, strain, swerve, swimming upstream, tremble, turn aside, ward off, waver, weasel, weasel out, wince

Etymology

From Old French reculer.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔɪəl

Translations

Noun

pushback from a fired firearm

French: recul (fr) m. German: Rückstoß (de) m. Italian: rinculo (it) m.

Norwegian: rekyl (no) m., tilbakeslag (no) n., tilbakestøt (no) n., tilbakevirkning (no) m. Portuguese: coice (pt) m., recuo (pt) m. Russian: отдача (ru) (otdáča) f.

Verb

to pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment

Dutch: terugtrekken (nl), terugdeinzen (nl),terugschrikken (nl) French: reculer (fr) Norwegian: rekylere (no), spenne tilbake (no), sprette tilbake (no), springe tilbake (no), trekke seg tilbake (no), gyse tilbake (no)

Portuguese: recuo, coice (da arma)

Anagrams

• coiler