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.
-
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
-
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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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
Rob Jonas, Luminate’s CEO, suggested that this uptick might be part of a larger societal recoil against AI’s creep into every aspect of society, including the arrival of AI music.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
We may all recoil in horror at “Mar-a-Lago face”—and you might be rolling your eyes at my foray into the world of butt-crack straightening.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2026
The old goblin seemed to recoil a little.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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
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
According to conventional nuclear physics, this was extraordinary, even bizarre: nuclei of different weights would be expected to emit disintegration products of widely variable energies, with the heavy elements producing the more energetic recoils.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Washington, by contrast, recoiled at the very notion of monarchy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
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
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
Shining my headlamp in his direction, I reflexively recoiled when I saw the appalling condition of his face.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
But when the pressure heightens and matters boil over between the quartet, Wilde carefully examines the resulting eruption instead of recoiling.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
He said: "I said what I said back in February, I am not recoiling from that."
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
But he proves a skilled physical comic, tussling with his boots or recoiling from a kick in the shins from Lucky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2025
We’ll see if voters can reward this one while recoiling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
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.
