only 1 use
(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
to move backward suddenly (sometimes figuratively)
especially:
- the backward jerk of a gun or cannon when it is fired
- when a person flinches (suddenly draws back) from someone or something, as with fear, disgust, or pain
- when a person is emotionally repulsed, as by disgust
- when something intended to go in one direction figuratively falls back in the opposite direction; for example, a story told to hurt someone that comes back to hurt the teller
- Men of the world may recoil from the charnel-house that they will one day enter, but Love knows better.Chapter 27 (94% in)
There are no more uses of "recoil" in Howards End.
Typical Usage
(best examples)