Overview of noun recoil

The noun recoil has 2 senses

• recoil, kick -- (the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired)


• recoil, repercussion, rebound, backlash -- (a movement back from an impact)

Overview of verb recoil

The verb recoil has 4 senses

• flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quail -- (draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf")


• backfire, backlash, recoil -- (come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; "Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble")


• bounce, resile, take a hop, spring, bound, rebound, recoil, reverberate, ricochet -- (spring back; spring away from an impact; "The rubber ball bounced"; "These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide")


• kick back, recoil, kick -- (spring back, as from a forceful thrust; "The gun kicked back into my shoulder")