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recoil

UK/ɹɪˈkɔɪl/US/ɹɪˈkɔɪl/
verbC12 meaningsOccasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,072 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: recoiled, recoils, recoiling

To recoil is to draw back suddenly in fear or disgust. Recoil in horror, recoiled from the smell, made her recoil.

It is a whole-body flinch and involuntary. In firearms, recoil is the backward push of the gun, which is momentum going the other way and is why a heavier gun kicks less. Figuratively a policy can recoil on the person who made it. Note that the French means to move back, from the word for a backside.

Definitions of recoil

  1. 1verbrecoilTo draw back suddenly in fear or disgust.C1

    “She recoiled when she saw the huge spider sitting on her pillow.”

  2. 2nounbackwardThe backward push of a gun.C1

    “The recoil of the rifle left a bruise on his shoulder.”

Also practised as

  • nounThe backward kick a weapon gives when fired.

Where it comes from

Old French reculer means to move backwards, from re plus cul, the backside. The English sense of flinching came from the physical movement.

  1. Old French

    reculer

  2. English, today

    recoil

From Old French reculer. Further from re- + cūlus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Ways of Moving, Hitting & Pushing, Body Language & Gestures

Practise this word