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recoil

 - 4 dictionary results
Recoil
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re-coil

  [ree-koil]
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
to coil again.
Use recoil in a Sentence
Origin:
1860–65; re- + coil 1
Recoil
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re⋅coil

  [v. ri-koil; n. ree-koil, ri-koil]
–verb (used without object)
1. to draw back; start or shrink back, as in alarm, horror, or disgust.
2. to spring or fly back, as in consequence of force of impact or the force of the discharge, as a firearm.
3. to spring or come back; react (usually fol. by on or upon): Plots frequently recoil upon the plotters.
4. Physics. (of an atom, a nucleus, or a particle) to undergo a change in momentum as a result either of a collision with an atom, a nucleus, or a particle or of the emission of a particle.
–noun
5. an act of recoiling.
6. the distance through which a weapon moves backward after discharging.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME recoilen, reculen (v.) < OF reculer, equiv. to re- re- + -culer, v. deriv. of cul rump, buttocks; see culet

Related forms:
re⋅coil⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. withdraw, quail, flinch, falter. See wince. 2. rebound.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To recoil
re·coil   (rĭ-koil')   
intr.v.   re·coiled, re·coil·ing, re·coils

  1. To spring back, as upon firing.

  2. To shrink back, as in fear or repugnance.

  3. To fall back; return: "Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent" (Arthur Conan Doyle).

n.   also (rē'koil')

  1. The backward action of a firearm upon firing.

  2. The act or state of recoiling; reaction.


[Middle English recoilen, from Old French reculer : re-, re- + cul, buttocks (from Latin cūlus; see (s)keu- in Indo-European roots).]
re·coil'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

recoil  (v.)
c.1225, "force back," from O.Fr. reculer "to go back, recede, retreat," from V.L. *reculare, from L. re- "back" + culus "backside." Meaning "shrink back" is first recorded 1513, and that of "spring back" (as a gun) in 1530. The noun is attested from c.1330.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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