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
-
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.
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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
“You would think that a human being with a shred of dignity would recoil from this thing,” Oswalt said.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
Even in a deeply polarized time, many Americans remain wired to recoil from acts of violence and to feel sympathy for their victims.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2026
There was such a Mrs. Weasley-ish glare on her face that Harry was surprised Fred didn’t recoil.
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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
When Maggie makes an ambiguous reference to Alma’s history, her professor recoils.
From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2025
He practices a politics of inspiration, and the Surge recoils at politicians who try to inspire us.
From Slate ● Apr. 5, 2025
Then, he recoils in disgust, a flyout that could have helped the Cubs reach the World Series infamously bouncing off the arms of Steve Bartman instead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2023
She must be letting him stay just to see the photograph; her entire body recoils from him, pressing into Christina’s side.
From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth
With high inflation ravaging the economy, Greenspan recoiled when he learned Ford’s advisers planned a grassroots movement to encourage personal savings by passing out buttons that proclaimed, “Whip Inflation Now.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 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
Amid the rebuke, brands have recoiled back within the antiseptic neutrality where they’re most comfortable: irrelevant celebrity cameos, cheap millennial nostalgia, unmoored wistfulness for simpler days.
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2026
And when I called a mobile vet, just randomly chosen from online, I recoiled when they quoted a fee of $750.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
Redemption gasped and recoiled, and Pet let go of her hand and head, backing away into a corner and dropping into a patient crouch.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
Americans are recoiling at rising restaurant and coffee prices and eating out less, making Starbucks’s turnaround more challenging.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2025
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
Even though he thought she was recoiling from him, he took another couple of steps in her direction.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
