different between dwindle vs recoil

English

Etymology

Frequentative form of dwine, from Middle English dwinen, from Old English dw?nan (“to waste away”), equivalent to dwine +? -le, akin to Old Norse dvena/dvína (Danish tvine (“to pine away”), Dutch verdwijnen (“to disappear, dwindle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?dw?n.d?l/
• Rhymes: -?nd?l

Verb

dwindle (third-person singular simple present dwindles, present participle dwindling, simple past and past participle dwindled)

1. (intransitive) To decrease, shrink, diminish, reduce in size or intensity.
   • 1802, T. Paynell (translator), Erasmus, The Complaint of Peace

     [E]very thing that was improving gradually degenerates and dwindles away to nothing, […]

2. (intransitive, figuratively) To fall away in quality; degenerate, sink.
   • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, Vicar, III

     The flattery of his friends began to dwindle into simple approbation.

   • 1919, Boris Sidis, The Source and Aim of Human Progress

     The larger the empire, the more dwindles the mind of the citizen.
3. (transitive) To lessen; to bring low.

   • Our drooping days are dwindled down to nought.

4. To break up or disperse.

Derived terms

Translations

References

Anagrams

• windled

English

Etymology

From Old French reculer.

Pronunciation

• (verb)
  • IPA^(key): /???k??l/
  • Rhymes: -??l
• (noun)
  • IPA^(key): /??i?k??l/

Noun

recoil (countable and uncountable, plural recoils)

1. A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking.

2. The state or condition of having recoiled.
   • 1850, Frederick William Robertson, second address delivered to the members of the Working Men's Institute, Brighton

     The recoil from formalism is skepticism.

3. (firearms) The 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.
4. An escapement in which, after each beat, the scape-wheel recoils slightly.

Synonyms

• (firearms): kick

Translations

Verb

recoil (third-person singular simple present recoils, present participle recoiling, simple past and past participle recoiled)

1. (intransitive) To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment. [from 16th c.]

2. (intransitive, now rare) To retreat before an opponent. [from 14th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.11:

     that rude rout […] forced them, how ever strong and stout / They were, as well approv'd in many a doubt, / Backe to recule […]

3. (obsolete, intransitive) To retire, withdraw. [15th-18th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.x:

     Ye both forwearied be: therefore a whyle / Iread you rest, and to your bowres recoyle.

   • 1838, Thomas De Quincey, The Household Wreck

     The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible […] that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits.
4. (of a firearm) To quickly push back when fired

Translations

Anagrams

• coiler