How to Use recoil in a Sentence

recoil

1 of 2 verb
Definition of recoilnext
Synonyms for recoilnext
  • We recoiled in horror at the sight of his wounded arm.
  • He recoiled from her touch.
  • The rifle recoiled and bruised my shoulder.
  • The news caught teachers and staff at Westover Hills off guard, and many of them recoiled from the idea.
    — Alec MacGillis, ProPublica, 19 June 2023
  • The next time the provider reached for her arm, the 15-year-old girl recoiled and pulled away, according to the lawsuit.
    — Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 10 Dec. 2019
  • There are plenty of New Yorkers who recoil at the name.
    — Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2022
  • Though still clearly recoiling from the shock of the news and the weight of what’s to come, Ballard embraced the future.
    — Jim Ayello, Indianapolis Star, 25 Aug. 2019
  • The fear that Biden might recoil from more activist policies dates back to the campaign.
    — New York Times, 11 Feb. 2021
  • Rather than recoil under the heat, the U.S. players doubled down on their joy.
    — Sean Gregory, Time, 7 July 2019
  • Within the first two episodes of S3, Stranger Things offers bits of action that'll cause many to recoil.
    — Nathan Mattise, Ars Technica, 1 July 2019
  • The girl teaches him French and does not recoil at his eagle-and-skull tattoo.
    — Mark Kennedy, Detroit Free Press, 30 July 2021
  • Challenges are something that this team has yet to recoil from.
    — oregonlive, 18 Aug. 2020
  • Henry recoiled, then smashed through a wall (that part of the sketch was planned), suffering cuts to his leg as well.
    — Thr Staff, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2020
  • And while light inertia guns recoil stoutly, the soft Franchi TSA pad does a good job of cutting the kick.
    — Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
  • Coleman didn’t recoil from the heat of those closing moments.
    — Nick Moyle, ExpressNews.com, 2 Dec. 2020
  • This time Jordan noticed that the boy kept recoiling, as if bracing for a hand to come down on him.
    — Emily Tate, WIRED, 17 July 2019
  • The crux of the scene occurs when Victor gropes the actress under the table, causing her to recoil and spill wine on her shirt.
    — Rand Richards Cooper, courant.com, 14 Aug. 2019
  • The marketing guy recoiled and said the figure was way too high and in no way could it be justified.
    — Lily Moayeri, Spin, 5 Oct. 2023
  • But Feige promises that the camera and focus won’t recoil from the violence.
    — Abbey White, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Feb. 2022
  • While some may recoil at the notion, there are pluses to raising the retirement age.
    — Chris Carosa, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
  • What matters is why Reese recoiled at the suggestion to include the runners-up.
    — Roxanne Jones, CNN, 9 Apr. 2023
  • The startled nucleus would then recoil and emit some form of energy, such as a flash of light or a sound wave.
    — Wired, 13 Jan. 2019
  • Like a startled squid in water, the women recoiled in unison expecting the lord to do as he was told.
    — Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 4 Dec. 2023
  • The force of the shot pushes the cannon back about two feet into the dirt, despite equipment that mitigates recoil.
    — Hope Hodge Seck, Popular Mechanics, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Those who really might be considered elite would recoil at the word, the notion.
    — Sally Quinn, Washington Post, 17 May 2021
  • Conservatives tend to recoil at this kind of thing for a number of reasons.
    — Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 6 Mar. 2021
  • Our minds don’t like this though, and recoil against what seem like huge extra charges for what are often minor changes in schedule.
    — Brad Templeton, Forbes, 28 Dec. 2021
  • Then prepare to recoil in genuine fear at their rising fury.
    — Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 30 July 2021
  • And some may recoil at the focus on secondary effects in the Global North rather than the immediate effects on the ground.
    — Justin Worland, Time, 27 Oct. 2022
  • The resort has a record of success with detox and weight loss advice based on the idea that healthier food should be something to look forward to and not to recoil from.
    — Nel-Olivia Waga, Forbes, 17 June 2021
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recoil

2 of 2 noun
  • The gun has a sharp recoil.
  • That's when the gun's recoil sent the scope back into the bridge of my nose.
    — Star Tribune, 1 May 2021
  • The cheek piece on the stock does soften the blow of recoil, which was very manageable on the Maxus II.
    — Joe Genzel, Outdoor Life, 23 Feb. 2021
  • But, hey, pull that choke, yank the recoil starter, and that big Honda roars to life in seconds.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 21 Feb. 2023
  • The team plans to use the data to learn how much DART's initial hit moved the asteroid and how much came from the recoil.
    — Ariana Garcia, Chron, 19 Dec. 2022
  • This is equipped with recoil and auto choke, so there’s no fussing with primer or the choke.
    — Chris Hachey, BGR, 23 Apr. 2021
  • The team saw that the recoil allowed the foot to remain in contact with the floor longer and better propel the body forward.
    — Matt Hrodey, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2023
  • This would give him a recoil speed of 8 meters per second.
    — WIRED, 21 Aug. 2022
  • The force of firing a prop gun provides the shooter with real recoil.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2021
  • The gun comes with Ruger’s Boomer muzzle brake, which does a great job of reducing recoil.
    — Michael Dickerson, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2023
  • What effect will that have on the recoil velocity and angle of the 1 ball?
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 17 Dec. 2021
  • So prepare to feel the recoil from weapons, and more impact from your environment in the left and right grips.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 2 Nov. 2020
  • The main advantage of the gas gun is greatly reduced felt recoil.
    — Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 25 Jan. 2021
  • The men in the show fight, cheat, steal, throw milk bottles impetuously through windows, recoil at the sight of blood.
    — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 31 May 2021
  • Pull the recoil handle several times to evenly distribute the oil on the wall of the cylinder.
    — Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, 3 Nov. 2021
  • Trainees took turns attempting the task, dropping to their mats and fumbling with the guns’ dust covers and recoil springs.
    — Ann Neumann, Harper’s Magazine , 6 Jan. 2023
  • There’s a lot of energy in those tubes and a lot of recoil that can lead to fatalities.
    — Eric Adams, Popular Mechanics, 1 July 2019
  • The recoil was smooth and easy to control using the retraction button.
    — Molly Blanco, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 June 2023
  • Sean Murphy caught it and fired to second in one motion, his right leg whipping to the side, catcher’s mask loosed by the recoil.
    — Matt Kawahara, San Francisco Chronicle, 31 July 2021
  • Blanks are used to simulate the firing of a live bullet with a muzzle flash, recoil and bang.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 6 Nov. 2021
  • Light and medium machine guns knotted the air, swirling up whippets of dust with their recoil.
    — Carter Malkasian, Washington Post, 12 Aug. 2022
  • Finally, there is the physical recoil of holding the gun and the loud bang that results.
    — Washington Post, 28 Oct. 2021
  • So while some non-Asians recoil from the tanks of lobsters, the Kwons are committed to offering live seafood.
    — New York Times, 6 May 2021
  • One major issue with a rifle using the 14.5mm round is recoil, or the pushback from a round fired.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 22 Sep. 2022
  • For kids and new shooters, suppressors take away the two things that bother them – recoil and noise.
    — al, 31 Mar. 2022
  • The gas system worked well and did an admirable job of reducing recoil.
    — Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2023
  • The low recoil and limited report of the rimfire round are a good way to ease youths and newbies into the world of shooting.
    — Joseph Albanese, Field & Stream, 14 Aug. 2020
  • Also, the recoil of a 20-gauge shotgun is substantially less than that of a 12-gauge.
    — Richard Mann, Field & Stream, 27 July 2020
  • When the shooter leans into the gun, the bump stock causes the firearm to slide back and forth rapidly, harnessing the recoil energy.
    — Joe Palazzolo, WSJ, 7 Oct. 2017
  • Fingers curl around triggers, eyes track the pigeons' paths and bodies jerk back with the recoil of every shot.
    — Erin Kirkland, Alaska Dispatch News, 30 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'recoil.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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