Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Recoil \Re*coil"\, v. t.
   To draw or go back. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Recoil \Re*coil"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Recoiled}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Recoiling}.] [OE. recoilen, F. reculer, fr. L. pref. re-
   re- + culus the fundament. The English word was perhaps
   influenced in form by accoil.]
   1. To start, roll, bound, spring, or fall back; to take a
      reverse motion; to be driven or forced backward; to
      return.

            Evil on itself shall back recoil.     --Milton.

            The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible . .
            . that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits.
                                                  --De Quincey.

   2. To draw back, as from anything repugnant, distressing,
      alarming, or the like; to shrink. --Shak.

   3. To turn or go back; to withdraw one's self; to retire.
      [Obs.] ``To your bowers recoil.'' --Spenser.

Recoil \Re*coil"\, n.
   1. A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking; as,
      the recoil of nature, or of the blood.

   2. The state or condition of having recoiled.

            The recoil from formalism is skepticism. --F. W.
                                                  Robertson.

   3. Specifically, the reaction or rebounding of a firearm when
      discharged.

   {Recoil dynamometer} (Gunnery), an instrument for measuring
      the force of the recoil of a firearm.

   {Recoil escapement} See the Note under {Escapement}.

Source : WordNet®

recoil
     n 1: the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired [syn: {kick}]
     2: a movement back from an impact [syn: {repercussion}, {rebound},
         {backlash}]
     v 1: draw back, as with fear or pain; "she flinched when they
          showed the slaughtering of the calf" [syn: {flinch}, {squinch},
           {funk}, {cringe}, {shrink}, {wince}, {quail}]
     2: spring back; spring away from an impact; "The rubber ball
        bounced"; "These particles do not resile but they unite
        after they collide" [syn: {bounce}, {resile}, {take a hop},
         {spring}, {bound}, {rebound}, {reverberate}, {ricochet}]
     3: spring back, as from a forceful thrust; "The gun kicked back
        into my shoulder" [syn: {kick back}, {kick}]