different between recoil vs thump

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

English

Etymology

Probably imitative.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??mp/
• Rhymes: -?mp

Noun

thump (plural thumps)

1. A blow that produces a muffled sound.
   • December 24, 1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 111

     The watchman gave so very great a thump at my door last night, that I awakened at the knock.

2. The sound of such a blow; a thud.
3. (dated, colloquial, euphemistic) Used to replace the vulgar or blasphemous element in "what the hell" and similar phrases.

   Where the thump have you been?!

Translations

Verb

thump (third-person singular simple present thumps, present participle thumping, simple past and past participle thumped)

1. (transitive) To hit (someone or something) as if to make a thump.
2. (transitive) To cause to make a thumping sound.

   The cat thumped its tail in irritation.

3. (intransitive) To thud or pound.
4. (intransitive) To throb with a muffled rhythmic sound.

Translations