| 释义 |
▪ I. recoil, n.|rɪˈkɔɪl, ˈriː-|
Forms: 6 recule, 6–7 recoyle, (6 requoyle), 7 recoyl, -coile, 4, 7– recoil.
[f. next; in common use only from the latter part of the 16th c. Cf. F. recul (16th c. in Hatz.-Darm.).]
1. The act of retreating, retiring, or going back. Now rare.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 9182 (Kölbing) Þer was swiche cark & swiche defoil, þat al Leodeganes folk made recoil To Denebleise vnder þe wal. 1536in Hexham Priory (Surtees) I. App. cxxix, The comissioners..all togeders reculed back to Corbrigg, after the recule of the said Lyonell and Robert. 1577Stanyhurst Hist. Irel. 80/2 Hauing knowledge of Omore his recule, he pursued him. 1643Tuckney Balme of G. 39 Especially since of late after our recoiles backwards towards Egypt, he hath been about to leade us the second time in a more direct and full way Canaan-ward. 1808Scott Marm. vi. xxv, Life and death were in the shout, Recoil and rally, charge and rout.
fig.1686tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 110 The Recoyl of my Fortune. 1716M. Davies Athen. Brit. II. 214 A more retir'd recoyle and recess of their..Devotionary Calls.
2. a. The act of bounding or springing back, esp. through impact or elasticity; resilience.
1613W. Browne Brit. Past. i. ii. 40 [The river] against a mountaine dashes, And in recoile, makes Meadowes standing plashes. 1677Hale Contempl. ii. Lord's Pr. 201 The reflection of thine own Glory, a recoyl of that Beam that came from thy Sun. 1831J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 324 It gives a recoil to the hammer, and permits the workman to modify or shorten the stroke. 1855H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. ii. xvi. 271 We strain a bow and let its recoil propel the arrow. 1877Encycl. Brit. VI. 17/2 The pallet B will drive the wheel back a little, and produce what is called the recoil.
fig.1848Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xii. §3 The recoil of prices after they have been raised by a spirit of speculation.
b. fig. of feelings; esp. with ref. to shrinking from something.
1643Milton Divorce i. x. Wks. (1851) 47 A powerfull reluctance and recoile of nature. 1801Coleridge Christabel ii. Concl., A sweet recoil of love and pity. 1833Chalmers Constit. Man (1835) I. iv. 186 With the recoil of delicacy and self-respect. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. 269 Reverent love of beauty, and indignant recoil from ugliness.
3. a. spec. The rebound or ‘kick’ of a gun or firearm when discharged.
1575Gascoigne Weedes Wks. 183 A peece which shot so well,..It neyther bruzed with recule, nor wroong with ouer⁓weight. 1589P. Ive Fortif. 23 Draw a lyne..vnto the parapet in the flanke for the requoyle of the artillery. 1669Boyle Contn. New Exp. i. 19 The Recoyl [of guns] seems to depend upon the Dilatation and Impulse of the Powder. 1781Thompson in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 258 The recoil of great guns is much more violent after the second or third discharge than it is at first. 1832Babbage Econ. Manuf. ii. (ed. 3) 23 Amongst different kinds of shot, that which is the smallest, causes the greatest recoil against the shoulder. 1879Sladen Gunnery 17 The velocity of recoil is generally taken as the velocity imparted to the gun and carriage by the discharge of the piece.
b. ellipt. A recoil-check.
1882Daily News 10 Feb. 6/1 A..duck gun, mounted ready for action in a punt. It is fitted with Booth's recoil.
4. Nucl. Physics. The result of a collision between two sub-atomic particles, or of spontaneous decay of a single particle, in which the two resulting particles move in opposite directions with speeds determined by conservation of momentum.
1909Nature 24 June 490/1 Rutherford..suggests the possibility of the phenomenon being due to a recoil effect rather than to a volatility possessed by the product radium B. 1912Phil. Mag. XXIV. 622 It is well known..that the emission of α particles from radioactive substances is accompanied by a vigorous recoil of the residual atoms. 1933Discovery Apr. 107/2 The energy of recoil is greatest when it [sc. a neutron] strikes a hydrogen nucleus, and the recoiling atom may travel 30 c.m. or more in air before it is brought to rest. 1964J. B. Hasted Physics of Atomic Collisions iii. 107 Since the angle of recoil is related to the velocity, a suitable positioning of slits should serve to select atoms of a certain velocity.
5. attrib. or Comb.
a. In names of devices intended to diminish or absorb the recoil of a firearm or piece of ordnance, as recoil box, recoil-breeching, recoil-check, recoil pad, recoil-plate, recoil reducer, recoil-spring, recoil-toggle; also, names of devices used to measure the force or energy of the recoil of a firearm, as recoil gauge, recoil machine, recoil recorder; also recoil action.
1908Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 4/2 The *recoil action of the spring..closes these valves.
1892W. W. Greener Gun & its Development (ed. 5) 480 Recoil breeching of rope is..the simplest gear for taking the recoil. Others in use are..the indiarubber breeching, or the *recoil box of Mr. E. T. Booth.
1881Greener Gun 460 (Plate) Greener-Field Punt Gun, with India-rubber *Recoil-breeching.
1876in Smithsonian Misc. Collect. VIII. No. 6. 30 Accessories of loading... *Recoil-checks.
1890Field LXXVI. 461/1 Ascertaining, by chronograph and *recoil-gauge, what the forward velocity of the shot and the backward movement of the gun respectively amount to. 1896W. W. Greener Gun & its Development (ed. 6) xii. 316 (caption) New mechanical gun-rest and recoil-gauge. 1900G. T. Teasdale-Buckell Experts on Guns & Shooting xii. 138 We cannot follow Mr. Toms..in his remarks about the recoil gauge.
1896Field 28 Mar. 457/1 There would thus be an increase of the back-thrust registered on the *recoil machine.
1931G. Burrard Mod. Shotgun I. vi. 145 A *recoil pad can be a great boon to those who are at all sensitive to recoil or to almost anyone who uses a gun in a hot climate where one frequently has to shoot in nothing but a thin shirt. 1974R. Dunlap Gun Owner's Bk. of Care, Repair & Improvement xiii. 207 We have the obvious changes in original wood fittings for firearms: fitting recoil pads to shotguns and rifles, which more or less combines with the desire for shortening or lengthening buttstocks. 1976Shooting Times & Country Mag. 18–24 Nov. (Advt.), Beavertail fore-end in walnut, pistol grip stock with recoil pad.
1868Rep. to Govt. U.S. Munitions War 281 A small space is left between the tenon on the rear of this block, and the front surface of the breech-block,..to admit of a slight rocking motion of the *recoil-plate.
1906H. Sharp Mod. Sporting Gunnery v. 123 The sportsman does not appear to have attached very much importance to these *recoil recorders, possibly for the reason that machines devised on the above lines tell only the weight of recoil.
1942R.A.F. Jrnl. 3 Oct. 29 The compensator or *recoil reducer was very effective. 1975G. T. Garwood Shotguns & Cartridges for Game & Clays (ed. 3) xvi. 155 In the USA various proprietary ‘recoil reducers’ are advertised, the best known being the Edwards. This is a sealed device, and the working principle is not disclosed.
1859H. C. Folkard Wild-Fowler xxii. 126 The best plan of all is Colonel Hawker's invention of a steel spiral *recoil-spring. 1882‘Marksman’ Dead Shot (ed. 5) 331, I have recently seen several attached to heavy breech-loaders, in which the recoil-spring and fittings were so short and cramped, as to be only twelve or fourteen inches in length. 1971G. T. Garwood Gough Thomas's Second Gun Bk. xi. 211 If it were not for the friction device and the recoil spring, the parts of the gun with which the shooter makes contact..would not commence to recoil at all.
1881Greener Gun 531 It is immaterial to which end of the breeching the ‘*recoil toggle’ is affixed.
b. In Nucl. Physics. (cf. sense 4 above), as recoil atom, recoil electron, recoil energy, recoil momentum, recoil nucleus, recoil proton, recoil ray, recoil track.
1912Phil. Mag. XXIV. 622 *Recoil atoms produce a strong ionization in the gas they traverse. 1942Pollard & Davidson Appl. Nucl. Physics iii. 40 A cloud chamber for observation of alpha particles, protons, and heavy recoil atoms is not hard to construct.
1923Physical Rev. XXI. 483 The velocity of secondary β-rays excited in light elements by γ-rays agrees with the suggestion that they are *recoil electrons. 1966S. E. Liverhant Outl. Atomic Physics iv. 111 In an experimental arrangement designed to measure the coincidences between the scattered photon and the recoil electron in Compton scattering, the detectors are to be placed symmetrically about the direction of the incident X-ray beam.
1949Friedlander & Kennedy Introd. Radiochem. xi. 253 Neutron capture is always followed by γ-ray emission, and the nucleus receives some *recoil energy in this process. 1963Radiochem. Man. (Radiochemical Centre) ii. ii. 5 When an atom in a chemical compound captures a neutron, by an (n, γ) reaction, the atom recoils with an energy usually greater than that of the chemical binding forces: recoil energies are usually in the range of a few MeV whilst chemical bond energies are usually only a few eV.
1950D. Halliday Introd. Nucl. Physics iii. 106 The *recoil momentum of a disintegrating nucleus will be influenced in magnitude and direction by the presence of a neutrino. 1962Semat & Albright Introd. to Atomic & Nuclear Physics (ed. 4) xiv. 470 The mass to which the recoil momentum is transferred can be considered infinite in comparison with that of an atom, so that the velocity of recoil is zero. This phenomenon is sometimes called recoilless emission of radiation.
1934Proc. Cambr. Philos. Soc. XXX. 99 The ionisation due to *recoil nuclei of the energies here concerned is almost entirely primary. 1949O. Oldenberg Introd. Atomic & Nuclear Physics xxi. 237 The two tracks so produced, that of the original alpha particle deflected by the collision and that of the ‘recoil nucleus’, are both well defined.
1942Pollard & Davidson Appl. Nucl. Physics iii. 41 The *recoil protons caused by neutrons in a gas containing hydrogen can..be detected with such equipment. 1949O. Oldenberg Introd. Atomic Physics xix. 195 When the cloud chamber is filled with CH4 and subjected to neutron bombardment, the short, straight tracks of recoil protons show up.
1913E. Rutherford Radioactive Substances iv. 178 By observing the deflections of a pencil of *recoil rays, both in a magnetic and electric field, the velocity and value of e/m of the recoil atoms can be deduced. 1926R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy's Man. Radioactivity vi. 59 In consequence of their smaller velocity, the phenomenon of scattering occurs in a much more marked degree with recoil rays than with α-particles.
1927Proc. R. Soc. A. CXVI. 664 This paper describes the measurement of the mobility of a single atom of actinium A immediately after it reaches the end of its *recoil track. 1930E. Rutherford et al. Radiations from Radioactive Substances vi. 155 At ordinary pressure, the recoil track is shown by a knob at the end of the track. As the pressure is reduced, the recoil track becomes longer and often shows evidence of a marked scattering.
c. recoil escapement, an ordinary form of escapement in clocks and watches, in which the teeth of the crown- or balance-wheel act on the pallets by recoil; recoil gear Mil. (see quot. 1940); recoil pallet, a pallet in a recoil escapement; recoil starter, a device for starting a small internal-combustion engine in which a cord, wound round a pulley, is rewound by a spring after being pulled for the starting cycle; recoil wave, a dicrotic wave.
1838Penny Cycl. XII. 299/1 [This] motion is called the recoil, and this escapement is thence called the recoil escapement. 1850Denison (Sir E. Beckett) Clocks & Watches (Weale) 71 The recoil escapement, which is still used in all the common clocks in the world, though it has long been abandoned in all that make any pretension to a great accuracy. 1883Ibid. (ed. 7) 79 Recoil pallets—and dead ones too—should only just clear the teeth. 1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 7 The Recoil Escapement (invented by Dr. Hooke about 1675) is the one most generally applied to the ordinary run of dials and house clocks. 1904–5Jrnl. R. Artillery XXXI. 303 Recoil gear. 1911H. A. Bethell Mod. Artillery in Field i. 26 (heading) Hydropneumatic recoil gear. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 706/2 Recoil gear (Artillery), The whole recoil mechanism, embracing both buffer and recuperator. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 106/2 (Advt.), Petrol-engine model with..two-stroke engine;..automatic recoil⁓starter eliminating the use of loose starting rope. 1972P. Dempsey How to repair Small Petrol Engines vii. 235 Rewind starters. Sometimes called recoil starters, these devices are found on outboards, lawnmowers, go-karts.
▪ II. recoil, v.1|rɪˈkɔɪl|
Forms: α. 4 (6 Sc.) reculle, 5 recuyel(l)e, recuyll-, 6–7 recuile, (7 recool), 4–7 (9 Sc.) recule. β. 3–4, 7 recoile(n, 6–7 recoyl(e, (7 requoyle), 6– recoil.
[ad. OF. reculer (12th c.), f. re- re- + cul cul, cule:—L. cūlus the posteriors: cf. Sp. recular, Pg. recuar, It. rinculare, med.L. (14–15th c.) recul(l)are. For the change of u to oi cf. defoil v., foil v.1, foist n.1; recule is the usual form in the 15–16th c.]
†1. trans. To beat, drive, or force back (also with back or aback); to cause to retreat or retire.
a1225Ancr. R. 294 Þu..ȝiuest þe ueonde inȝong..so þet tu ne meiht recoilen him aȝanward. c1330Arth. & Merl. 6693 (Kölbing) .v. forlong he dede hem recoile & vnder hors fete defoile. c1380Sir Ferumb. 4585 Þay wyþ-stode hem al wyþ strengþe, And reculede hem þar an acres lengþe. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn 58 He..reculed his enemyes abacke tyll within the barreys of the towne. a1547Surrey æneid ii. 560 With this from thense I was recuiled back. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 19 Neither toyle nor traveill might her back recoyle. 1667Obs. Burn. Lond. 33 When it found any let or hinderance that did recoil it back, it blew equally both to the right and to the left. 1713Swift Cadenus & Vanessa, The darts were..often blunted and recoil'd.
fig.1628tr. Mathieu's Powerfull Favorite 104 He was author of my Vnckles death, who recoiled his hopes. 1645City Alarum 10 Our passionate desire of an end recoyles us from the end. 1650R. Gentilis Considerations 164 How behove-full would it be to recule and set by unfortunate men ere they were scarce known.
†b. refl. To draw back, retire. Obs. rare.
c1489Caxton Blanchardyn 106 They..lepte and reculed hem self abake six passes or moo. 1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 33/2 Whosoeuer will order himselfe according to Gods rule, must learne to recule & withdraw himselfe.
†c. To take or carry back. Obs.—1 (Cf. 3 c.)
1603Florio Montaigne i. ix. (1632) 16 Who recoile their narration so farre-backe, and stuff it with so many vaine circumstances, that..they smoother the goodnesse of it.
†d. To return or retort (a thing) upon one. Obs.
1626W. Fenner Hid. Manna Ep. Ded., I say, this [argument] may be recoyled back upon them. 1662W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. iii. verse 18 xlv[i]. §1 (1669) 404/1 She reverseth the unjust judgement past upon the life of her people, and recoyls it upon the life of him that laid the plot.
2. intr. To retreat, retire, go or draw back (or aback) before an enemy or opposing force.
Very common (in form recule) from c 1490–1610.
αc1380Sir Ferumb. 971 Þe frensche men þai made reculle wel an akers lengþe. 1470–85Malory Arthur v. xii, The knyghtes.. made them to recuyelle & flee. a1533Ld. Berners Huon ci. 335 When Huon sawe them he sayd to his men ‘syrs, it is good that we recule to our cyte’. 1550J. Coke Eng. & Fr. Heralds §70 (1877) 80 Charles..secretly reculed home with suche Hungariens as escaped. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 35 The Britans being troubled with the strange forme of those gallies..reculed. 1640tr. Verdere's Romant of Rom. I. 13 Doest thou not know that worthy Knights must never recuile for any consideration of danger whatsoever.
β1511Sir R. Guylforde Pilgr. (Camden) 59 We were with vyolence and rage of the sayde tempest constreyned to recoyle and turn backwardes. 1570Levins Manip. 215/11 To Recoyle, recedere. 1637R. Humfrey tr. St. Ambrose i. 11 Skilfull darters who by recoyling are wont to gaine the day. 1644Vicars God in Mount 118 They were forced swiftly to recoyle and flie backe. 1807J. Barlow Columb. v. 209 The French recoiling half their victory yield. 1865Kingsley Herew. vi, The peasants swarmed like flies but they soon recoiled.
transf.1598Drayton Heroic. Ep. vi. 156 At first our Troubles easily recul'd But now growne head-strong, hardly to be rul'd. 1623Milton Ps. cxiv. 9 Jordans clear streams recoil, As a faint host that hath receiv'd the foil.
b. To stagger back, from the effects of a blow.
a1533Ld. Berners Huon xvi. 42 Huon..gaue þe erle such a stroke þat he..reculyd backe more than .ii. pases. c1650Don Bellianis 58 Arsileos horse with the strong stroke recoyled back three or four paces. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 194 Ten paces huge He back recoild.
†3. To go back (or backwards); to recede, retire, retreat, return. Obs.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 317/1 The shyppe recuyeled backward in to the Water soo that he fylle doune in to the deppest of the flood. 1489― Faytes of A. ii. xxxv. 146 As a ramme..whan he reculeth a bak for to hurte with hys hornes. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xxi. 5 Whom soeuer of theim, this extreme distresse shall soodainly take in any forein countreyes..: leat not suche recule into Jewrie. 1601Holland Pliny II. 370 It goeth as it were reculing backward. 1601Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 718 According as the sunne doth approch neere, or recule from vs,..so haue we the daies longer or shorter. 1651tr. De-las-Coveras' Don Fenise 199 They perceived the earth to fall upon them, which terrified them very much, not knowing whether they should advance or recule.
fig.1641in Carte Ormonde (1735) III. 36 This gentleman will acquaint your Lordship how the affaires stand here, which rather recoyle than advance to his Majestie's service. 1642Rogers Naaman 157 Then Self will most recoile, and selfe-deniall will most appeare.
†b. To fall back or away (from some state or condition), to degenerate. Obs. rare.
1601Weever Mirr. Mart. C v, Orleance Saw that his Souldiers courage gan recoile. 1605Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 22 A good and vertuous Nature may recoyle, In an Imperiale charge. 1611― Cymb. i. vi. 128 Be reueng'd, Or she that bore you was no Queene, and you Recoyle from your great Stocke.
†c. To go back in memory or in a narrative. Obs. rare. (Cf. 1 c.)
1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 154 Looking on the Lynes Of my Boyes face, me thoughts I did requoyle Twentie three yeeres. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. vii. i. §34 Now followed the fatall tragedy of the Duke of Somerset, and we must recoile a little, to fetch forward the cause thereof.
†d. To lie back or away from. Obs.—1
1579Fenton Guicciard. (1618) 37 A place betweene the walls of the same towne, and a ditch which reculeth about a thousand paces from the towne.
†4. To retire, withdraw oneself to a place. Obs.
1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark v. 38 The Lorde..reculed unto the water syde and toke shippe. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. x. 17 A whyle I read you rest, and to your bowres recoyle. 1591― M. Hubberd 754 When this Courtly Gentleman with toyle Himselfe hath wearied, he doth recoyle Unto his rest. 1627Drayton Agincourt, etc. (1631) 13 The Lawyer to his chamber doth recule For he hath now no bus'nesse at the barre.
†b. fig. To draw back from an act or course of action, a promise, etc. Also without const. Obs.
1481Caxton Myrr. i. v. 24 They that ought wnderstande vertues and to teche other..they ben they that recule and withdrawe fro it. 1483― Gold. Leg. 271 b/1 The Appostle recuylled not but..wente forth Joyeng. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) C vj, Submitting him selfe to death..Rather then to recule from the defence of right. 1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1594) 57 If I recule now and draw backe, the reputation thereof will be diminished. a1632T. Taylor God's Judgem. i. i. xvi. (1642) 49 So filthily recoyling from the Truth..that he became a setter up of false Idols. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) III. xxxix. 294 He again renewed his consent; but in a few days he began anew to recoil.
5. To start or spring back in fear, horror, disgust, or the like.
1513Douglas æneis ix. xiii. 38 He full fers..Seand the scharp poyntis, recullis backwart. 1577Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. 5/1 A toad..indeuoring to haue skipt ouer it, suddenlie reculed backe, as though it had beene rapt in the head. 1601Holland Pliny II. 176 If a Vine stand neare vnto it, a man shall sensibly perceiue the same to shrinke away and recule backward from it. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 759 Back they recoild affraid At first, and call'd me Sin. 1746Collins Passions 20 Fear..back recoil'd he knew not why, Even at the sound himself had made. 1865Baring-Gould Werewolves vii. 88 The little girls recoiled, and the youngest took refuge behind Jeanne.
b. fig. of persons, in respect of the mind or feelings.
1644H. Parker Jus Pop. 47 The ten Tribes, recoyling from the pressures under Rehoboam. 1662Bp. Hopkins Fun. Serm. (1685) 64 Yet even he, as man, recoiles at that death, which, as God, he was assured to conquer. 1792Cowper On Bill Mortality v, Why deem we Death a foe? Recoil from weary life's best hour, And covet longer woe? 1838Lytton Alice i. x, I recoil from the idea of marrying him. 1874Green Short Hist. ii. §7. 96 The age..recoiled from the cool cynicism of his crimes.
c. fig. of the mind, heart, etc.
1605Shakes. Macb. v. ii. 23 Who then shall blame His pester'd senses to recoyle and start. 1680Otway Orphan v. ix, At each word that my Distraction utter'd My heart recoyl'd. 1764Reid Inquiry v. §7 Something within me that recoils against it. 1836J. Gilbert Chr. Atonem. ix. (1852) 262 The mind naturally recoils against the position. 1871L. Stephen Playgr. Eur. (1894) ii. 68 The imagination fairly recoils from the prospect in horror.
6. a. To rebound, to spring or fly back through force of impact.
1581Savile Tacitus, Hist. i. lxxxvi. (1591) 49 Tiber..by the ruines of it beeing dammed, reculing againe, ouerflowed. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage ix. i. (1614) 820 He [the Orenoque]..with his vomited abundance maketh the salt waters to recoyle. 1660Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. i. 35 They must press upon the surface of the Earth, and, as it were recoyling thence [etc.]. 1784Cowper Task vi. 874 He gleans the blunted shafts that have recoiled. 1811Shelley Marg. Nicholson, Spec. Horsem. 41 The meteors of midnight recoil from his figure. 1871Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (1879) II. v. 63 They [two balls] clash together, but, by virtue of their elasticity, they quickly recoil.
b. Of firearms or artillery: To spring back by the force of the discharge.
1530Palsgr. 681/2 Se howe yonder gonne reculeth or ever she lowse. a1658Cleveland Wks. (1687) 25 The Bullet flying makes the Gun recoil. 1660W. Secker Nonsuch Prof. 141 A peece ill charged instead of hitting the mark, does but recoil on him that shoots it. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The ball, when the gun had liberty to recoil, was always thrown to the right. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) VIII. 246/2 A barrel mounted upon a very straight stock will recoil more than one that is considerably bent. 1876Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 331/1 The shot it is believed has left the piece before the gun commences to recoil.
fig.1640Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. 14 Dec. 13 They have charged their Canons at us to the full, and never fearing that ever they would recoyle back into a Parliament, they have ramm'd a prodigious, ungodly Oath into them.
c. To spring back to the original position.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 571 Habit..is more tough and stubborn; when you think you have quite weakened its spring, it will recoil again with wonted vigour.
7. To rebound, spring back, or return, to the starting-point or source. Const. against, to, on, upon. Chiefly fig. (now with on).
1599Broughton's Lett. iii. 13 They are like..arrowes shot vp against the Sunne, these reculing to their hurt that shot them. 1632Sir T. Hawkins tr. Mathieu's Unhappy Prosperitie i. 49 marg., There is nothing so deformed as an injury which reculeth backe against him who spake it. 1664Power Exp. Philos. iii. 156 Electrical fluors do presently recoyl by short streight lines to their Bodies again. 1682J. Flavel Fear 3 All their councels and cruelties recoyl upon themselves. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xiv. vii, The good or evil we confer on others, very often..recoils on ourselves. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 513 That evidence missed the mark at which it was aimed, and recoiled on him from whom it proceeded. 1882J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. II. 185 Their treason recoiled on their own heads.
Hence reˈcoiled ppl. a.
1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 61 By the honor of his house, and his neuer reculed sword. 1611Cotgr., Reculé, recoiled, repulsed.
▪ III. † recoil, v.2 Obs. rare.
In 7 -coile, -coyle.
[ad. It. raccogliere (see raccolta) or F. recueillir (OF. recoiller): see recueil v. and coil v.1]
trans. To collect, gather, obtain.
1632Lithgow Trav. ii. 58 Fertile soyle, And trees from whence all times they fruit recoyle. Ibid. vi. 275 A contribution is granted..and also recoiled. Ibid. vii. 329 Some Bay, or Creeke..Whence Ancorage, and safety ships recoile.
▪ IV. recoil, v.3|riːˈkɔɪl|
[f. re- 5 a + coil v.3]
trans. To coil again.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ix. 245 Uncoiling the string, and recoiling it as before. |