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recoil, shrink, flinch, wince, blench, quail mean to draw back in fear or distaste. recoil implies a start or movement away through shock, fear, or disgust.

Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged.

us / ˈri·kɔɪl, rɪˈkɔɪl / the sudden, backward movement that a gun makes when it is fired (Definition of recoil from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

RECOIL definition: to draw back; start or shrink back, as in alarm, horror, or disgust. See examples of recoil used in a sentence.

The recoil of a gun is the quick backward movement that it makes when it is fired. I assembled the weapon, checked the firing and recoil mechanism and loaded it.

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).

Definition of recoil verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Recoil is the backward movement experienced by an object when it expels another object, typically observed in firearms or rockets. This phenomenon occurs due to Newton's third law of motion, which …

RECOIL meaning: 1 : to quickly move away from something that is shocking, frightening, or disgusting to react to something with shock or fear often used figuratively; 2 : to move back suddenly when fired