What is "recoil"

Recoil \Re*coil"\ (r[-e]*koil"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Recoiled (r[-e]*koild"); 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.

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

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.

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.

n. 1 A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking. 2 The state or condition of having recoiled. 3 (context firearms English) The amount of energy transmitted back to the shooter from a firearm which has fired. Recoil is a function of the weight of the weapon, the weight of the projectile, and the speed at which it leaves the muzzle. vb. 1 (context intransitive now rare English) To retreat before an opponent. (from 14th c.) 2 (context obsolete intransitive English) To retire, withdraw. (15th-18th c.) 3 To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment. (from 16th c.)

1. n. the backward jerk of a gun when it is fired [syn: kick]

2. a movement back from an impact [syn: repercussion, rebound, backlash]

3. v. 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]

4. 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]

5. spring back, as from a forceful thrust; "The gun kicked back into my shoulder" [syn: kick back, kick]

Recoil is a musical project created by former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder. Essentially a solo venture, Recoil began whilst Wilder was still in Depeche Mode as an outlet for his experimental, less pop-oriented compositions. Once he announced his departure from the group in 1995, Recoil was transformed from a small side-project into Wilder's primary musical enterprise.

Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged.

Recoil may also refer to:

Recoil is the third album released by the four-piece alternative metal music group, Nonpoint. It was their only release through Lava Records.

The album debuted #115 on the Billboard 200 charts.

Recoil is a vehicular combat tank-based Microsoft Windows video game. It involves the player driving a flying experimental tank known as the "BFT" (Battle Force Tank) through various missions. There is heavy influence on the two weapons to be collected throughout the game. It was developed by Zipper Interactive, a subsidiary of its parent publisher, Electronic Arts, and uses the same game engine as MechWarrior 3.

Recoil is a 1998 action/ thriller film written by Richard Preston, Jr., produced by Richard Pepin and Joseph Merhi, directed by Art Camacho and starring Gary Daniels, Gregory A. McKinney, and Robin Curtis.

Recoil is a 1953 British crime film directed by John Gilling and starring Kieron Moore, Elizabeth Sellars and Edward Underdown.

Recoil is a 2011 Canadian action film directed by Terry Miles and starring Steve Austin and Danny Trejo. The film was released on direct-to-DVD and Blu-ray in Canada on March 1, 2011. The film is about a cop turns vigilante after his family has been murdered, exacting vengeance on the killers and then on all criminals who have slipped through the system.

Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gases (ejecta), according to Newton's third law. In most small arms, the momentum is transferred to the ground through the body of the shooter; while in heavier guns such as mounted machine guns or cannons, the momentum is transferred to the ground through its mount. In order to bring the gun to a halt, a forward counter-recoil force must be applied to the gun over a period of time. Generally, the counter-recoil force is smaller than the recoil force, and is applied over a time period that is longer than the time that the recoil force is being applied (i.e. the time during which the ejecta are still in the barrel of the gun). This imbalance of forces causes the gun to move backward until it is motionless.

A change in momentum results in a force, which according to Newton's second law is equal to the time derivative of the momentum of the gun. The momentum is equal to the mass of the gun multiplied by its velocity. This backward momentum is equal in magnitude, by the law of conservation of momentum, to the forward momentum of the ejecta (projectile(s), wad, propellant gases, etc...) from the gun. If the mass and velocity of the ejecta are known, it is possible to calculate a gun’s momentum and thus the energy. In practice, it is often simpler to derive the gun’s energy directly with a reading from a ballistic pendulum or ballistic chronograph.

RECOIL is a magazine dedicated to handguns, tactical rifles, tactical knives and other shooting-related activities in the United States. It claims to cater to the "Firearms Lifestyle".

The magazine primarily offers reviews on firearms, ammunition, knives, and shooting gear; as well as gunsmithing tips, historical articles, gun collecting, self-defense and automobiles. In addition to those departments, each issue contains a few featured articles and personality profiles of people in the firearms industry as well as press releases of new products. Each issue includes a fold-out target.

RECOIL debuted in January 2012 as a quarterly magazine and by December 2012 became bi-monthly.

Iain Harrison took command as editor in January 2013.

Recoil is a rheological phenomenon observed only in non-Newtonian fluids that is characterized by a moving fluid’s ability to snap back to a previous position when external forces are removed. Recoil is an observable result of a fluid’s elasticity and memory where the speed and acceleration by which the fluid moves is dependent on molecular structure and the location to which it returns is dependent on conformational entropy. This effect is observed in numerous non-Newtonian liquids to a small degree, but is exceptionally prominent in some materials such as molten polymers.