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1. Draw back, as with fear or pain
   "she recoiled when they showed the slaughtering of the calf";
   - flinch, squinch [N. Amer], funk, cringe, shrink, wince, quail, blench
    
2. Come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect
   - backfire, backlash
    
3. Move back in a roughly opposite direction after an impact
   "The rubber ball recoiled";
   - bounce, resile, take a hop, spring, bound, rebound, reverberate, ricochet
    
4. Spring back, as from a forceful thrust
   "The gun recoiled into my shoulder";
   - kick back, kick

1. The backward jerk of a gun when it is fired
   - kick
    
2. A movement back from an impact
   - repercussion, rebound, backlash

Derived forms: recoiled, recoiling, recoils

Type of: bound, come about, fall out, go on, hap [archaic], happen, jump, leap, motion, move, movement, occur, pass, pass off, spring, take place

Encyclopedia: Recoil