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
We've also seen him resile from some of the threats or claims he made during the campaign...
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2016
In Foreign Office usage, however, resile means to appear elastic without actually budging from one's original position.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was instructed that he must resign both, or neither; resigned both; fell out with the Consuls on details; and is now, as we are advised, seeking to resile from his resignations.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 18 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
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
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
Some might call it "dithering," others "muddling through," but the Foreign Office likes to call it "resiling."
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
