Definition of Recoil

Verb: recoil  ri'koy(-u)l

  1. Draw back, as with fear or pain
    "she recoiled when they showed the slaughtering of the calf";
    - flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, quail, blench
     
  2. Come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect
    - backfire, backlash
     
  3. Move back in a roughly opposite direction after an impact
    "The rubber ball recoiled";
    - bounce, resile, take a hop, spring, bound, rebound, reverberate, ricochet
     
  4. Spring back, as from a forceful thrust
    "The gun recoiled into my shoulder";
    - kick back, kick
Noun: recoil  ri'koy(-u)l
  1. The backward jerk of a gun when it is fired
    - kick
     
  2. A movement back from an impact
    - repercussion, rebound, backlash

See also:
recognizing
recoiled

Anagrams containing the word recoil

riocel lrecoi ilreco oilrec coilre ecoilr