re|coil

re|coil «verb. rih KOYL; noun. rih KOYL, REE koyl», verb, noun.

–v.i.

1. to draw back; shrink back: »

Most people would recoil at seeing a snake in the path. The…British had recoiled five and twenty miles (H. G. Wells).

SYNONYM(S): flinch.

2. to spring back: »

The gun recoiled after I fired.

SYNONYM(S): kick.

3. to react: »

Figurative. Revenge often recoils on the avenger.

–n.

1. a drawing or springing back; recoiling: »

This is the expulsion of a jet of gas or other substance in one direction causing a recoil or thrust in the opposite direction. (New York Times).

2. a state of having recoiled: »

in recoil from danger.

3. the distance or force with which a gun, spring, or other mechanism, springs back.

╂[< Old French reculer < re- back + cule rump < Latin cūlus]

–re|coil´er, noun.