RECOIL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does recoil mean? 

• RECOIL (noun)
  The noun RECOIL has 2 senses:

1. the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired

2. a movement back from an impact

  Familiarity information: RECOIL used as a noun is rare.

• RECOIL (verb)
  The verb RECOIL has 4 senses:

1. draw back, as with fear or pain

2. come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect

3. spring back; spring away from an impact

4. spring back, as from a forceful thrust

  Familiarity information: RECOIL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RECOIL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The backward jerk of a gun when it is fired

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

kick; recoil

Hypernyms ("recoil" is a kind of...):

motion; movement (a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something)

Derivation:

recoil (spring back, as from a forceful thrust)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A movement back from an impact

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

backlash; rebound; recoil; repercussion

Hypernyms ("recoil" is a kind of...):

motion; movement (a natural event that involves a change in the position or location of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "recoil"):

bounce; bouncing (rebounding from an impact (or series of impacts))

resilience; resiliency (an occurrence of rebounding or springing back)

carom; ricochet (a glancing rebound)

Derivation:

recoil (spring back; spring away from an impact)

• RECOIL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they recoil    ... he / she / it recoils   
Past simple: recoiled   
Past participle: recoiled   
-ing form: recoiling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Draw back, as with fear or pain

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

cringe; flinch; funk; quail; recoil; shrink; squinch; wince

Context example:

she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf

Hypernyms (to "recoil" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recoil"):

retract; shrink back (pull away from a source of disgust or fear)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

backfire; backlash; recoil

Context example:

the political movie backlashed on the Democrats

Hypernyms (to "recoil" is one way to...):

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Spring back; spring away from an impact

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

bounce; bound; rebound; recoil; resile; reverberate; ricochet; spring; take a hop

Context example:

These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide

Hypernyms (to "recoil" is one way to...):

bound; jump; leap; spring (move forward by leaps and bounds)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recoil"):

kick; kick back; recoil (spring back, as from a forceful thrust)

bound off; skip (bound off one point after another)

carom (rebound after hitting)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

recoil (a movement back from an impact)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Spring back, as from a forceful thrust

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

kick; kick back; recoil

Context example:

The gun kicked back into my shoulder

Hypernyms (to "recoil" is one way to...):

bounce; bound; rebound; recoil; resile; reverberate; ricochet; spring; take a hop (spring back; spring away from an impact)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

recoil (the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired)

 Context examples 

After that he recoiled from hurt because he knew that it was hurt.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I turned to run, struck violently against one person, recoiled, and ran full into the arms of a second, who for his part closed upon and held me tight.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Sir Lothian recoiled from the pale fierce face with the black brows, but he still glared angrily about the room.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She recoiled from it, and, with a suddenly distorted face, full of rage, dashed past him as if to enter the tomb.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He recoiled from side to side between the various objects and multiplied the hazards that in reality lodged only in his mind.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Since the cavity recoils so fast after the droplet’s impact, it causes a small air bubble to get trapped underwater.

(What causes the sound of a dripping tap – and how do you stop it?, University of Cambridge)

I still recoiled at the dread of seeing a corpse.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

When exposed to neutron irradiation, boronophenylalanine absorbs neutrons and self-destructs releasing short-range alpha radiation and 'recoil' lithium in tumor cells, resulting in alpha radiation-induced tumor cell death.

(Boronophenylalanine-fructose complex, NCI Thesaurus)

The mind recoiled from contemplation of a world beyond this wet veil which wrapped us around.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

That my soul recoiled from punch particularly.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)