resile
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to spring back; rebound; resume the original form or position, as an elastic body.
-
to shrink back; recoil.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of resile
1520–30; < Middle French resilir < Latin resilīre to spring back; see resilient
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:
Asked about those commitments during the by-election campaign, Burnham said he did not "resile" from his previous stance on inheritance tax.
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
However, she added: "No responsible Labour government can resile from taking decisions because they are too difficult because that is not good enough for the people we came into politics to serve."
From BBC ● May 21, 2025
But he added he did not "resile from my strongly held views" on the conflict.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2024
In Foreign Office usage, however, resile means to appear elastic without actually budging from one's original position.
From Time Magazine Archive
You perhaps know that the children born under the handfasting engagement were reckoned lawful children, and not bastards, though the parents did afterwards resile.
From Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850 by Various
There is no resiling from his admiration for George Bush, who is lauded as a man of "genuine integrity" and "a true idealist".
From The Guardian ● Sep. 4, 2010
Some might call it "dithering," others "muddling through," but the Foreign Office likes to call it "resiling."
From Time Magazine Archive
One purpose of resiling is to wait for one's antagonist to commit a blunder that weakens him, or a provocation that provides the Resiler with a casus belli.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
