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Cower vs Recoil - What's the difference?

cower | recoil | Related terms |

Cower is a related term of recoil.


As verbs the difference between cower and recoil

is that cower is to crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear or cower can be (obsolete|transitive) to cherish with care while recoil is .

As a noun recoil is

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

cower

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) kuren or from Scandinavian ((etyl) . Unrelated to coward, which is of Latin origin.

Verb

(en verb)
  • To crouch or cringe, or to avoid or shy away from something, in fear.
    • He'd be useless in war. He'd just cower in his bunker until the enemy came in and shot him, or until the war was over.
  • * Dryden
    • Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire.
  • * Goldsmith
    • Like falcons, cowering on the nest.
    See also
    * coward * cowardice

    Etymology 2

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To cherish with care.
    • (Webster 1913)

    recoil

    English

    (wikipedia recoil)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A starting or falling back; a rebound; a shrinking.
    • the recoil of nature, or of the blood
  • The state or condition of having recoiled.
  • * F. W. Robertson
    • The recoil from formalism is skepticism.
  • (firearms) 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.

    • Verb

  • * 1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , V.11:
    • that rude rout
  • (obsolete) To retire, withdraw.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , I.x:
    • Ye both forwearied be: therefore a whyle / Iread you rest, and to your bowres recoyle .
  • * Milton
    • Evil on itself shall back recoil .
  • * De Quincey
    • The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits.
  • To pull back, especially in disgust, horror or astonishment.
    • He recoiled in disgust when he saw the mess.
    (Shakespeare)

    Derived terms

    * recoil on

    Anagrams

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