All 5 Uses
recoil
in
Tamar, by Mal Peet
(Auto-generated)
- The hand looked around the room, recoiling in horror when it saw Grotius.†
- Grandad's head recoiled as if she had struck him physically, and he stumbled out of the car.
*recoiled = moved back suddenly
- The face was pulpy and still warm, and Tamar's hands recoiled from it.†
- Now Koop turned his gaze on Dart, who had to force himself not to recoil.†
recoil = to move backward suddenly
- He froze for a split second when he saw her, then grabbed her arm before she could recoil.†
Definitions:
-
(1)
(recoil) 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
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)