recoil
pronunciation
How to pronounce recoil in British English:
UK [rɪˈkɔɪl , ˈriːkɔɪl]
How to pronounce recoil in American English:
US [rɪˈkɔɪl , ˈriːkɔɪl]
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- Noun:
- the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired
- a movement back from an impact
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- Verb:
- draw back, as with fear or pain
- spring back; spring away from an impact
- spring back, as from a forceful thrust
Word Origin
- recoil
- recoil: [13] Recoil has no connection with coil. In fact, etymologically it means virtually ‘withdraw backside first’, for it was coined in French on the basis of cul ‘arse, backside’. This went back to Latin cūlus ‘arse’, which was probably related to Sanskrit kūla- ‘rearguard’.
- recoil (n.)
- c. 1300, "retreat," from Old French recul "recoil, backward movement, retreat," from reculer (see recoil (v.)). Meaning "back-kick of a firearm" is from 1570s.
- recoil (v.)
- early 13c. (transitive) "force back, drive back," from Old French reculer "to go back, give way, recede, retreat" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *reculare, from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + culus "backside, bottom, fundament." Meaning "shrink back, retreat" is first recorded c. 1300; and that of "spring back" (as a gun) in 1520s. Related: Recoiled; recoiling.
Example
- 1. Democrats , on the other hand , recoil at the idea of long-term fiscal control .
- 2. I braced myself for his reaction , but he didn 't recoil in horror .
- 3. Some of the dim branches exhibit bright recoil leaders .
- 4. But many of mr netanyahu 's ministers would recoil at such a deal too .
- 5. Western policymakers recoil at the thought of getting bogged down in another bloody counter-insurgency operation in somalia .