recoil
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old French reculer.
Pronunciation [edit]
Noun [edit]
recoil (plural recoils)
- (firearms) The amount of energy transmitted back to the shooter from a firearm which has fired. Recoil is a function of the weight of the weapon, the weight of the projectile, and the speed at which it leaves the muzzle.
Translations [edit]
pushback from a fired firearm
Verb [edit]
recoil (third-person singular simple present recoils, present participle recoiling, simple past and past participle recoiled)
- (intransitive, now rare) To retreat before an opponent. [from 14th c.]
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:
- that rude rout […] forced them, how ever strong and stout / They were, as well approv'd in many a doubt, / Backe to recule […].
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:
- (obsolete, intransitive) To retire, withdraw. [15th-18th c.]
- 1590, Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene, I.x:
- Ye both forwearied be: therefore a whyle / Iread you rest, and to your bowres recoyle.
- 1590, Edmund Spendser, The Faerie Queene, I.x:
- To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment. [from 16th c.]
- He recoiled in disgust when he saw the mess.
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment
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