Definition of "recoil" []

• To spring back, as upon firing. (verb-intransitive)
• To shrink back, as in fear or repugnance. (verb-intransitive)
• To fall back; return: "Violence does, in truth, recoil upon the violent” ( Arthur Conan Doyle). (verb-intransitive)
• The backward action of a firearm upon firing. (noun)
• The act or state of recoiling; reaction. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I own one and yes the recoil is alittle bit rough, but overall I like the gun."
• "I have been told that, using light loads, the recoil is as light as a 20 ga? dickgun"
• "Much of the recoil is absorbed by the rifles 'weight."