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.
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