What is "recoils"

Usage examples of "recoils".

With his head lowered, Potter doesn't see them until they're right there, and he recoils, gasping.

Munshun recoils in loathing from the suggestion of d'yamba that has somehow contaminated this otherwise delightful scene.

Mist recoils, and patches of darkness show through: asphalt black with sleeping bees.

There is more power to those recoils than I figured, though our first experiments seemed to warrant us in believing that we had solved the problem.