recoil: [13] Recoil has no connection with coil. In fact, etymologically it means virtually ‘withdraw backside first’, for it was coined in French on the basis of cul ‘arse, backside’. This went back to Latin cūlus ‘arse’, which was probably related to Sanskrit kūla- ‘rearguard’.
recoil (n.)
c. 1300, "retreat," from Old French recul "recoil, backward movement, retreat," from reculer (see recoil (v.)). Meaning "back-kick of a firearm" is from 1570s.
recoil (v.)
early 13c. (transitive) "force back, drive back," from Old French reculer "to go back, give way, recede, retreat" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *reculare, from Latin re- "back" (see re-) + culus "backside, bottom, fundament." Meaning "shrink back, retreat" is first recorded c. 1300; and that of "spring back" (as a gun) in 1520s. Related: Recoiled; recoiling.
双语例句
1. People used to recoil from the idea of getting into debt.
过去人们不能接受欠债这种事情。
来自柯林斯例句
2. His reaction was as much of a rebuff as a physical recoil.
他的反应既是身体的退缩，也是一种断然的拒绝。
来自柯林斯例句
3. We are attracted by nice smells and recoil from nasty ones.
我们会被好闻的味道吸引，难闻的味道则会让我们退避三舍。
来自柯林斯例句
4. Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.
许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.
