recoil
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to draw back; start or shrink back, as in alarm, horror, or disgust.
-
to spring or fly back, as in consequence of force of impact or the force of the discharge, as a firearm.
- Synonyms:
- rebound
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to spring or come back; react (usually followed by on orupon ).
Plots frequently recoil upon the plotters.
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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
-
an act of recoiling.
-
the distance through which a weapon moves backward after discharging.
verb
-
to jerk back, as from an impact or violent thrust
-
(often foll by from) to draw back in fear, horror, or disgust
to recoil from the sight of blood
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to go wrong, esp so as to hurt the perpetrator
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(of a nucleus, atom, molecule, or elementary particle) to change momentum as a result of the emission of a photon or particle
noun
-
-
the backward movement of a gun when fired
-
the distance moved
-
-
the motion acquired by a particle as a result of its emission of a photon or other particle
-
the act of recoiling
Synonym Usage
See wince 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
recoilsimple
-
recoilssimple
-
have recoiledperfect
-
has recoiledperfect
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am recoilingprogressive
-
are recoilingprogressive
-
is recoilingprogressive
-
have been recoilingperfect progressive
-
has been recoilingperfect progressive
Past
-
recoiledsimple
-
had recoiledperfect
-
was recoilingprogressive
-
were recoilingprogressive
-
had been recoilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recoil
1175–1225; Middle English recoilen, reculen (v.) < Old French reculer, equivalent to re- re- + -culer, verbal derivative of cul rump, buttocks; see culet
Explanation
A recoil is a movement backwards, usually from some force or impact. The recoil of a gun is a backward movement caused by momentum. Your trip to the shooting range might make your mom recoil — from horror, not momentum. Recoil has both a verb and a noun form, meaning any kind of rebound or spring backwards. It doesn’t even have to be from an actual force. You might recoil when you see a snake, or recoil at the thought of having to eat squid. In those cases it’s more like a cringe or a flinch from something that’s scary, disgusting, or painful. Eating squid might in fact be all of those things to you.
Vocabulary lists containing recoil
The Lingo of Body Language
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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List 7
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He smiled after I busted him for looking, which made me recoil in horror and quickly dart over to hide in the pet food aisle.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Although the resulting recoil force is extremely small, it acts continuously over millions of years.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 25, 2026
Many judges recoil from that conclusion, and the constitutional inquiry becomes personal.
From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2026
Why do we recoil when a leader is vulgar and violent in his language and thinking?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
“Come on, Henry, lay off the boy. Hardly big enough to shoulder the recoil anyhow.”
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
Maekar recoils at the thought of a child of royal birth subsisting on salted beef.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
Having fashioned a creature from dead body parts, the scientist recoils from the result, which appears to him to be a monster of “unparalleled barbarity,” and abandons his construction.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
He practices a politics of inspiration, and the Surge recoils at politicians who try to inspire us.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2025
Although Watkins has been the center of attention since middle school, when Gottlieb started hearing whispers of an eighth-grade phenom on the recruiting circuit, Watkins recoils when asked about her success.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2023
Jillian recoils as if my tone was a slap.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Walking into his kitchen, Tim Yoder recoiled at a message on his refrigerator door: “Shop Samsung water filters.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
The Hungarian photographer recoiled at the work of American photographers such as Ansel Adams, whose “cult of technical perfection,” according to Patricia Albers, risked “killing their subjects with irrelevant detail.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
By that point, Layan had forgotten her completely, Omama says, and recoiled when they met.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
He recoiled from me, and I couldn’t blame him; he had no idea where he was or who I was.
From Slate ● Sep. 4, 2025
I recoiled, slipping down in the space between the backseat and the front.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Economic uncertainty has tempered demand among even the wealthiest clients who had lifted sales for years, while aspirational shoppers are recoiling from persistent price increases.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
De Guzman, who also curated an art show called “Roots of Cool” about trees, noted that Los Angeles seems to actually shrink during the hotter months, as if recoiling from the sun.
From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2025
“Swim in it? Me?” said retiree Patrice Desrousses, 64, recoiling ever so slightly as he paused in his promenade beside the storied waterway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2024
So rather than staying in the cycle of having a knee-jerk negative reaction each time I scrolled past a new lurid selfie and then feeling guilty for recoiling, I unfollowed her.
From Salon ● May 7, 2024
I reached to steady him but he jerked away, violently recoiling from my touch.
From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
