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vocabulary
1000+ books

recoil
in a sentence

show 187 more with this conextual meaning
  • 'Your skin's icy,' she said, recoiling slightly.   (source)
    recoiling = drawing back (moving away)
  • Nelson stiffens as Pako recoils.   (source)
    recoils = draws back
  • ROS recoils, breaks for the opposite wing.   (source)
    recoils = suddenly draws back
  • She goes to her knees, but when she touches HELEN'S hand the child starts up awake, recoils, and scrambles away from her under the bed.   (source)
    recoils = draws back suddenly
  • Estragon recoils in horror.   (source)
    recoils = moves backward suddenly
  • The knife, driven by the recoil of the spring tree, had not wholly failed.   (source)
    recoil = backward jerk
  • The blood of his body recoiled before it.   (source)
    recoiled = suddenly moved backward (away from it)
  • "I am frightened!" cried the child, recoiling.   (source)
    recoiling = drawing back (moving away)
  • "You jest," he exclaimed, recoiling a few paces.   (source)
    recoiling = moving backward suddenly
  • He recoils.†   (source)
  • I'd heard other students talk about their grants, and I'd recoiled from them.†   (source)
  • Outside, the sirens howled at the houses, and the people came running, hobbling, and recoiling as they exited their homes.†   (source)
  • She pictured him puffing up the stairs, squeezing through the door, looking disapprovingly at the clutter in their house, recoiling from Poppy's sticky hands—no, it wouldn't do.†   (source)
  • I was too carried away to hold the gun the way Dad had taught me, and the recoil nearly pulled my shoulder out of its socket.†   (source)
  • Louie was recoiling when he saw an oar swing past, sending the animal backward into the ocean.†   (source)
  • He recoiled as if I had struck him.†   (source)
  • I recoil, and she continues.†   (source)
  • I was revolting, but I couldn't recoil from my self because I was stuck inside of it.†   (source)
  • The flames on the grill roared up again, and he recoiled in mock fear.†   (source)
  • She. had traveled on to Iolcos with Jason and borne him two sons, but he recoiled from her sorceries, and his people despised her.†   (source)
  • He is recoiling from the sad provenance of these objects, each one attached to a momentous event in the life of its previous owner.†   (source)
  • "Leave me alone," she was stammering, recoiling from them.†   (source)
  • It means choosing to extend a hand rather than recoiling judgmentally; and following an impulse, even when, as Cassie would say, it might draw me out of my "comfort zone" and cost me something.†   (source)
  • Minho actually recoiled at the harsh rebuke, but his face seemed more confused to Thomas than hurt or angry.†   (source)
  • I sympathized with him, but I recoiled from his ability to shed responsibility seamlessly and drape it at the feet of others.†   (source)
  • When it turned I reached for its hind flipper, but as soon as I touched it I recoiled in horror.†   (source)
  • I recoiled as she leaned over the bed and retched a foul-smelling black fluid onto the floor.†   (source)
  • He turned his massive body fully toward the small woman, and he could sense her recoil as she gazed up into his red eyes.†   (source)
  • Harry felt Ron recoil slightly next to him — Ron hated spiders.†   (source)
  • Laila couldn't help wincing and recoiling.†   (source)
  • They had to fight the urge to recoil.†   (source)
  • I recoiled at the taste, because I was expecting apple juice.†   (source)
  • I recoiled from telling him— the trust that would allow confidences had disappeared into formality.†   (source)
  • The princess suddenly stared into Celaena's eyes with a ferocity that made the assassin recoil slightly.†   (source)
  • Her hands find Madame's face, and the old woman's cheek is so hot that Marie-Laure's fingers recoil as though scalded.†   (source)
  • Even though he thought she was recoiling from him, he took another couple of steps in her direction.†   (source)
  • But at that very moment Chielo's voice rose again in her possessed chanting, and Ekwefi recoiled, because there was no humanity there.†   (source)
  • Sean recoiled against the couch cushions.†   (source)
  • It's not a happy story, and Molly has learned through experience that people either recoil or don't believe her or, worse, pity her.†   (source)
  • I recoiled and she watched me.†   (source)
  • I tried to imagine it: curling my finger around the trigger and squeezing; the recoil and the awful report.†   (source)
  • Kit recoiled, as much from his angry tone as from the repulsive words.†   (source)
  • And the Beatles didn't recoil in horror when they were told they had to play eight hours a night, seven days a week.†   (source)
  • Lannister recoiled, and Summer lunged at him from the other side.†   (source)
  • If I hadn't spent my life building up layers of defenses until I recoil at even the suggestion of marriage or a family?†   (source)
  • Cinder squeezed her fists together, nerves twisting in the base of her stomach, as Kai recoiled from the image.†   (source)
  • They recoiled at my words, and the tremors running down Lucy's little body almost made me regret saying them.†   (source)
  • I fist my hands, recoiling slightly at the feel of his fingertips on my cheek.†   (source)
  • I can open you an account in Switzerland for the rest of it and give you a bank book and that way — what?" he said, recoiling almost, when I put the stack of bills in the bag, snapped it shut, and shoved it back at him.†   (source)
  • ShininR my headlam. in his direction, I reflexively recoiled when I saw the appalling condition of his face.†   (source)
  • She recoils slightly, just a fraction of an inch.†   (source)
  • Instantly, he recoils.†   (source)
  • She saw what it really was and recoiled instinctively.†   (source)
  • I looked into her brown eyes and I recoiled.†   (source)
  • Eragon recoiled in shock.†   (source)
  • He delicately touched my forehead and recoiled, as if my skin might burn him.†   (source)
  • I recoiled, scrambling into a sitting position.†   (source)
  • He thought briefly that such an anticlimax would be the universe's fitting verdict on his martial pretensions: the brave warrior floating off into near-planet orbit, no maneuvering systems, no propellant, no reaction mass of any sort-even the pistol was non-recoil.†   (source)
  • His words hinted at an end, and I recoiled from the idea.†   (source)
  • She recoiled.†   (source)
  • Adam recoiled from the possibilities.†   (source)
  • The recoil was immense, as though the weapon had blown up in his hand.†   (source)
  • Miss Milhouse recoiled.†   (source)
  • Silvertongue recoiled when he touched the skeleton in the darkness.†   (source)
  • She recoiled from its slippery hardness.†   (source)
  • He recoiled as a bright blue snake as thick as his wrist appeared out of the canopy of leaves and flickered a tongue that was easily six inches long in his direction.†   (source)
  • Jocelyn recoiled.†   (source)
  • The lake itself heaves and surges; waves are pulled in against the shore, recoil, are pulled in again; and the willow trees below him toss themselves like heads of long green hair, and bend and thrash.†   (source)
  • Mack recoiled at the thought of his children being watched; being targets.†   (source)
  • I can hardly bear to look at him, but when I do, he doesn't recoil from me.†   (source)
  • I do know from his sister Jennifer that medication is a sore subject, not just because he insists he doesn't need it, but because he recoils at the mere suggestion of something or someone controlling him.†   (source)
  • He accompanied his uncle to his country retreat in one of the city's first automobiles, whose crank handle had such a powerful recoil that it had dislocated the shoulder of the first driver.†   (source)
  • He reached out to place his hand on her arm, and she recoiled from his touch.†   (source)
  • She recoiled from his bitterness.†   (source)
  • I recoiled, not sure what would happen next.†   (source)
  • But when he was a student of philosophy Phaedrus had recoiled violently from this entire branch of knowledge.†   (source)
  • They recoiled from that.†   (source)
  • We could tell from the wide berth strangers gave him and the way they recoiled when he bounded their way that they no longer viewed him as a harmless puppy.†   (source)
  • …and it occurred to her that she had been stifled in the place of her birth for virtually her entire life, that its time for her had passed, and a new time was here, and, fraught or not, she relished this like the wind in her face on a hot day when she rode her motorcycle and lifted the visor of her helmet and embraced the dust and the pollution and the little bugs that sometimes went into your mouth and made you recoil and even spit, but after spitting grin, and grin with a wildness.†   (source)
  • He noticed the dark stairwell and recoiled.†   (source)
  • The idea had been in the back of her mind for a long time, but she recoiled from it instinctively: the suggestion of a final separation was unbearable to her, but she knew that a day would come when there would be no putting off, no concealment.†   (source)
  • Her body looked fragile and her face was swollen from crying, and he almost recoiled when he met her eyes.†   (source)
  • As her hand met his chest and she looked up, she felt a burst of recognition and she recoiled.†   (source)
  • It was possible that Peter's shots had sent Matt's body recoiling, but basic physics told Patrick that a shot fired from where Peter was standing would still not have landed Matt where he'd been found.†   (source)
  • All three visitors recoiled.†   (source)
  • When I opened the door, both Mahtob and I recoiled at the sight of the largest cockroaches we had ever seen, scurrying about the damp marble floor.†   (source)
  • The word future caused in Eric a small trembling, a small recoil.†   (source)
  • The Witch exploded a sneeze, recoiled, staggered away.†   (source)
  • When a television crew thrust a long, dark, furry object at me, I recoiled slightly, wondering if it were some newfangled weapon developed while I was in prison.†   (source)
  • She pulls me toward her as I recoil.†   (source)
  • Kristina recoiled.†   (source)
  • I wince and recoil—my lashes are still painful.†   (source)
  • Don't do it, Norah thought; David couldn't seem to see how much Paul recoiled at David's suggestions for his future.†   (source)
  • The dog, coming suddenly upon him face to face among the rough tussocks, recoiled a moment, startled and confused.†   (source)
  • I recoiled almost instantly at her tone more than her words.†   (source)
  • An outstretched leg withdrew along the floor like a serpent recoiling underfoot.†   (source)
  • It wasn't so much the idea of them seeing my body, although the thought made me recoil.†   (source)
  • The recoil had knocked him off the wagon, but even so it had been hard to get free of the dream.†   (source)
  • All the scenes she recoiled from when she watched T^ the narrative of local crime, we see the body in the street, the lament of the relatives, the suspect doubled over to conceal himself— MANX MARTIN The super comes gimping toward him.†   (source)
  • Edna initially recoiled when she visited it but also saw an advantage: It was in the poor part of town, near the people who needed her most.†   (source)
  • I felt the gratifying recoil of my rifle.†   (source)
  • Felicity slithers off the rock and drags herself along the ground with her hands, leaning close to Ann, who recoils, her back against the cave wall.†   (source)
  • She would employ the classic push-pull to control recoil when she fired.†   (source)
  • His comrades-in-arms seemed to recoil from the slight, callow nineteen-year-old almost by reflex.†   (source)
  • The veins in his neck popped out as he recoiled backwards.†   (source)
  • Its flight is so sudden I recoil, jerking my arm up, sending the beam of light over the ceiling and a whole cloudy scene of carnage.†   (source)
  • Clevinger recoiled from their hatred as though from a blinding light.†   (source)
  • Amma recoiled and pointed a bony finger in his direction.†   (source)
  • Ignatius stumbled back for a moment, recoiling from the shock of pain.†   (source)
  • Wow,' he said, recoiling slightly.†   (source)
  • He was surprised to find Hema still standing behind him, and again the sight of the bundles she carried made him recoil.†   (source)
  • I recoiled, but he said, "Look-I have an expiration date.†   (source)
  • Tom recoiled to a crouch and instinctively spread his arms.†   (source)
  • The recoil as One Var shot Lieutenant Awn.†   (source)
  • Someone shook me and I recoiled, my legs moist and trembling.†   (source)
  • It was not intended to be a hand cannon, and if he had fired the thing, the recoil would probably have thrown him into the air, but everyone in front of it would have died of terminal perforations.†   (source)
  • Her system no longer recoiled at the insult the bullet caused in flesh.†   (source)
  • Within seconds, General Norman Swayne's wife burst into the room, recoiling at the sight in front of her, gripping the back of the nearest chair, unable to contain her panic.†   (source)
  • Attolia recoiled.†   (source)
  • She cursed and recoiled, losing her grip on him.†   (source)
  • The rifle's recoil knocked him flat and opened a cut above one eye.†   (source)
  • She shook her head in an involuntary recoil of horror.†   (source)
  • We know he encouraged Chindit to fart whenever possible in her vicinity and by raising his eyebrows would surreptitiously make us feel it was she who made us recoil to the other end of the room.†   (source)
  • The aroma of salt and spice filled his nostrils, causing his harnd to recoil sharply.†   (source)
  • The Sicilian smelled the flowers in his hand, and recoiled.†   (source)
  • One of the ogres managed to lock its huge hand onto the dwarf's face, but Bruenor promptly bit it, and the monster recoiled.†   (source)
  • He recoiled slightly from the cold.†   (source)
  • Zooey said, quite sharply, recoiling.†   (source)
  • Following the laws of physics, it then recoiled and bounced off.†   (source)
  • Some of the other White men on the hill also tried to help, but they must have seen something like what Miller saw, and they recoiled as if they had been burned.†   (source)
  • ] ALAN [recoiling.†   (source)
  • She'd recoiled at the thought of living in Equatorial Africa or a delta village in India, and pestered him to set up practice in New York or Los Angeles, where the big money was.†   (source)
  • It all may not have been much—measured against his nauseous mouthings which would have caused the most hidebound Virginia reactionary to recoil—but it was something.†   (source)
  • Before his upraised hand the foul Messenger recoiled, and Gandalf coming seized and took from him the tokens: coat, cloak, and sword.†   (source)
  • I set it on the deck and thought about it as I unfastened and recoiled the line.†   (source)
  • She recoiled upon noting that the G-string was smeared with grape jelly, but she wriggled out with the chorus for one performance.†   (source)
  • At once I heard her snap, "Center-line tube …. fire!" and there were two recoil bumps as Jelly and his acting platoon sergeant unloaded — and immediately: "Port and starboard tubes — automatic fire!" and the rest of us started to unload.†   (source)
  • The recoil of the discharge had thrown the shotgun off the books.†   (source)
  • If he consciously tried to think back to the murder of the guard, his mind would shy away stubbornly, like a horse avoiding a bridge; nevertheless, the memory repeatedly came back, around unsuspected corners, and though his thought recoiled the way you would draw back your hand from a snake you'd mistaken for a vine, he could not escape reliving that moment--the dead guard's hand reaching out to him--over and over.†   (source)
  • My hands recoiled from the coldness of serpent flesh, my nails clawed at my palms, the leaves I had parted moved back to cover it.†   (source)
  • For the second time that morning, Clytie recoiled, and as she did so, the other recoiled in the same way.†   (source)
  • Reich radiated a burst of savage compulsion that made the peeper recoil.†   (source)
  • Then she saw him make a sudden movement, and recoiled, terrified; she thought he was going to attack her.†   (source)
  • As she continued reading, she suddenly gasped and recoiled.†   (source)
  • There was such a Mrs. Weasley-ish glare on her face that Harry was surprised Fred didn't recoil.†   (source)
  • Neville gave a howl of pain and recoiled, clutching his mouth and nose.†   (source)
  • When he offered the bag to his wife, she recoiled as though it held a venomous snake.†   (source)
  • One put his mouth to the spring and recoiled.†   (source)
  • The animal sniffed at the monument and recoiled, snarling.†   (source)
  • Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.†   (source)
  • Langdon leaned down to listen for breath but immediately recoiled.†   (source)
  • Now Koop turned his gaze on Dart, who had to force himself not to recoil.†   (source)
  • Again she recoiled, turning away from him.†   (source)
  • She recoiled at the harsh edge in his voice.†   (source)
  • He freezes at my touch, but doesn't recoil.†   (source)
  • The docent recoiled, a look of bewilderment in his olive-green eyes.†   (source)
  • The old goblin seemed to recoil a little.†   (source)
  • When I see what's inside, I recoil immediately, my shoulders hitting his chest.†   (source)
  • Paul laughed, watching me recoil from the human excrement thrown from above.†   (source)
  • Marley recoiled and lunged again, this time bringing his mouth within inches of our newborn's toes.†   (source)
  • I felt an involuntary urge to recoil, the way you would at a sudden loud noise.†   (source)
  • Jacob recoiled from his hand automatically, and then steadied himself.†   (source)
  • As he recoiled, the Quack saw him, pounded over, and punched him a dozen times.†   (source)
  • The recoil pushes Hiro back against the rusted hull of the oil tanker.†   (source)
  • Even in the darkness Vittoria sensed them recoil.†   (source)
  • Langdon also recoiled, as did Sato, who looked startled for the first time all night.†   (source)
  • He saw the small recoil on her face and understood.†   (source)
  • He waited for her to recoil from his touch, but instead, she buried herself in his arms.†   (source)
  • He stuck out his forearm and showed it to Fudge, who recoiled.†   (source)
  • He recoiled from the attack but found himself held in an iron grip, unable to retreat.†   (source)
  • The entire assembly seemed to recoil in unison.†   (source)
  • She recoiled from his hot eyes and tried on a smile that was a size too small.†   (source)
  • The monk recoiled, struggling against his bonds.†   (source)
  • Katherine recoiled as she flashed on the image of him standing in her family home ten years earlier.†   (source)
  • He froze for a split second when he saw her, then grabbed her arm before she could recoil.†   (source)
  • He was the only person there, except for — He recoiled.†   (source)
  • When he mentioned the strangers, Saphira recoiled.†   (source)
  • A gust of fetid odor rose from the body, and all three men recoiled.†   (source)
  • Jessica recoiled, fearing she would become lost in an ocean of oneness.†   (source)
  • The sound hurts my ears and the recoil sends my hands back, toward my nose.†   (source)
  • His father kissed him good night, and Adel's instinct was to recoil.†   (source)
  • Bellamy recoiled, instinctively yanking hard at his chains.†   (source)
  • Jack's mouth dropped open, and Wendy recoiled as if slapped.†   (source)
  • Louie recoiled, pulling his legs toward his body.†   (source)
  • The face was pulpy and still warm, and Tamar's hands recoiled from it.†   (source)
  • Macri recoiled, wrapping her arms protectively around her camera.†   (source)
  • The guards recoiled, looking suspicious.†   (source)
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