resile

1 draw back from an agreement, contract, statement, etc.; "The landlord cannot resile from the lease"

2 spring back; spring away from an impact; "The rubber ball bounced"; "These particles do not resile but they unite after they collide" [syn: bounce, take a hop, spring, bound, rebound, recoil, reverberate, ricochet]

3 formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; "He retracted his earlier statements about his religion"; "She abjured her beliefs" [syn: abjure, recant, forswear, retract]

4 return to the original position or state after being stretched or compressed; "The rubber tubes resile"

English

Etymology

resilire (to spring back) through French resilir; from re (back) + salire'' (to jump)

Pronunciation

• /rɪ'zʌɪl/

Verb

1. To start back; to recoil; to recede from a purpose.
2. To spring back; rebound; resume the original form or position, as an elastic body.

References