1Suddenly spring or flinch back in fear, horror, or disgust.

1. 1.1 Feel fear, horror, or disgust at the thought or prospect of something; shrink mentally.
   Renee felt herself recoil at the very thought

   Example sentencesExamples

   • But even those who agreed seemed to recoil at the idea of actually doing it.
   • We recoil at the idea of growing human beings for spare body parts or creating life for our convenience.
   • Many social scientists recoil from the idea that though particular wars may be avoided, war is endemic in the human condition.
   • Our human instincts immediately recoil from that idea, immediately thinking that one is obviously ‘worse’ than the other.
   • She recoils at the idea that she's simply lending her name to these products.
   • And while other housemates recoiled in horror at the thought of picking objects out of a bucket of sheep's eyes, he grabbed a handful and wolfed it down.
   • Child advocates recoil at the idea of thousands of children being raised in long-term substitute care.
   • And it largely worked because people instinctively recoil at the idea of nosy creeps like him rifling through other people's underwear drawers.
   • I think it's clear the voters recoil at the idea of the government trying to play politics with this national tragedy.
   • Some editors have recoiled from the idea, finding it a bit unseemly.
   • We all should recoil from the idea that a human being must possess certain attributes in order to qualify as a person - not only for the sake of justice, but also for self-interest.
   • And still some people might react with disgust at the idea, recoil at the thought of it, or simply say that it's too strong a word.
   • The young mistress, on her part, recoiled from the idea of having an old lover, and so she pulled out his white hairs.
   • It seems that many of those in the American elite who would recoil at the idea of explicit quotas are happy to tolerate more subtle systems that accomplish the same thing.
   • Software makers, however, have recoiled at such an idea, knowing that customers will receive tremendous horsepower and need fewer processors.
   • I'm sure young people are recoiling in horror from the thought!
   • Refreshingly, she recoils at the idea of that mirage known as ‘quality time’.
   • What happens next still has me shuddering and recoiling with horror.
   • Their censorship of foreign art films shows the party recoiling from foreign ideas that many of its members neither understand nor like.
   • The theory is that Fraser recoiled from the idea of blaming a widely revered figure, and fellow Westminster alumni, especially one who cannot now defend himself.

   Synonyms

   feel revulsion at, feel disgust at, feel abhorrence at, be unable to bear, be unable to stomach, shrink from, shy away from, baulk at, hesitate at
2. 1.2 (of a gun) move abruptly backward as a reaction on firing a bullet, shell, or other missile.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The front trigger is articulated to move forward a little when the gun recoils and then you move your finger forward for the right modified barrel.
   • The rifle recoiled as it fired, and the shell exploded about a foot short of the missile.
   • To me, the gun recoils a bit less with a rod in it.
   • ‘It sure hurts the shoulder,’ Shelley said, rubbing where the gun's stock recoiled into her bones.
   • One shot bellowed out, and his gun recoiled, jumping backwards from the force of the bullet ripping from its nozzle.
   • The gun recoiled as the bolt left the gun and flew through the air.
   • The gun recoiled, and I saw my shot fly forward and hit him in the chest.
   • When the enemy reached the middle of the open space, he fired, and the gun hardly recoiled at all.

   Synonyms

   kick, kick back, jerk back, spring back, fly back, jump back
3. 1.3 Rebound or spring back through force of impact or elasticity.
   the muscle has the ability to recoil

   Example sentencesExamples

   • This is due to elastic tendons that stretch and recoil, enabling the animals to ‘bounce’ along the ground like a pogo stick.
   • Composites recoil or bounce as they absorb much of the energy from a slow blow, and they don't catch fire as readily either.
   • The principle stress-bearing elements of the lung, which account for its tendency to recoil, are elastin and collagen fiber networks and surface tension.
   • Hence, although we fix the vessel under distension, once the load is removed, the elastin will recoil and consequently have a tortuous geometry.
   • If you stretch too far, ‘the muscle recoils to protect itself,’ he says.
   • The quarks recoiled, and the small shockwave forced three neutrons out of the atom.
4. 1.4recoil on/upon (of an action) have an adverse reactive effect on (the originator)
   the soothsayers agreed that all the dangers would recoil on the heads of those who were in possession of the entrails

   Example sentencesExamples

   • If I hate my neighbor, the hatred will recoil upon me.
   • A dictated peace is not a true peace; punitive terms recoil on our own heads.
   • Characters also recoil on their authors in the wake of writing; when Elias Canetti finished Auto-da-Fe, he fell into confused remorse and guilt for inventing the death by fire that was his protagonist Kien's fate.
   • Stepping forward, threateningly close, he declared: ‘We tell you plainly that what you have said will recoil upon your head.’
   • All suffering recoils on the wrongdoer himself.

   Synonyms

   rebound on, come back on, affect badly

The action of recoiling.