Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Recoil"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Recoil \Re*coil"\, v. t.
To draw or go back. [Obs.] --Spenser.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Recoil \Re*coil"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Recoiled}; p. pr. & vb.
n. {Recoiling}.] [OE. recoilen, F. reculer, fr. L. pref. re-
re- + culus the fundament. The English word was perhaps
influenced in form by accoil.]
1. To start, roll, bound, spring, or fall back; to take a
reverse motion; to be driven or forced backward; to
return.
Evil on itself shall back recoil. --Milton.
The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible . .
. that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits.
--De Quincey.
2. To draw back, as from anything repugnant, distressing,
alarming, or the like; to shrink. --Shak.
3. To turn or go back; to withdraw one's self; to retire.
[Obs.] ``To your bowers recoil.'' --Spenser.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Recoil \Re*coil"\, n.
1. A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking; as,
the recoil of nature, or of the blood.
2. The state or condition of having recoiled.
The recoil from formalism is skepticism. --F. W.
Robertson.
3. Specifically, the reaction or rebounding of a firearm when
discharged.
{Recoil dynamometer} (Gunnery), an instrument for measuring
the force of the recoil of a firearm.
{Recoil escapement} See the Note under {Escapement}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
recoil
n 1: the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired [syn: {kick}]
2: a movement back from an impact [syn: {repercussion}, {rebound},
{backlash}]
v 1: draw back, as with fear [syn: {flinch}, {squinch}, {funk}, {cringe},
{shrink}, {wince}, {quail}]
2: spring back; spring away from an impact; "The rubber ball
bounced"; "These particles do not resile but they unite
after they collide" [syn: {bounce}, {resile}, {take a hop},
{spring}, {bound}, {rebound}, {ricochet}]
3: spring back, as from a forceful thrust; "The gun kicked back
into my shoulder" [syn: {kick back}, {kick}]
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