recoil at the sight (of someone or something)

(redirected from recoiled at the sight)

recoil at the sight (of someone or something)

To shrink back, cower, or cringe upon seeing someone or something. Children recoiled at the sight of the man after his face was disfigured in that accident. We all recoiled at the sight of such a gruesome accident. Some may recoil at the sight, but blood and gore has never bothered me in the slightest. I suppose it's part of the reason I got into forensic pathology.
See also: recoil, sight, someone

recoil at the sight (of someone or something)

 and recoil at the thought (of someone or something)
Fig. to flinch or cringe at the sight or thought of someone or something. Sally recoiled at the sight of Gerry, who had said something unspeakable. Mary recoiled at the very thought.
See also: recoil, sight
References in periodicals archive ?
I recoiled at the sight of that weasel Max Branning slinking back on Tuesday night - especially when his new wife turned out to be none other than his ex-wife's junkie sister.
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Coming as it did in the midst of the greatest economic collapse since the Depression, some alienated and traumatised white Americans recoiled at the sight of an African American entering the Oval Office.
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Nor would they have understood Savarin, whose sensitive 18th-century palate might have recoiled at the sight of eggs poaching slowly in oil on a clay stove.
Genre painting and the world's kitchen
Most of us would have recoiled at the sight of women debasing themselves publicly, but for Collymore it was a sign of his transition from small-time player to Premier League hero.
Sue Carroll: Stan's top scorer in a sleazy game
Nearly every parent has recoiled at the sight of a freshly painted bedroom wall which has been littered with pictures of fine young things in various stages of undress.
YOUR CHILD: When an infatuation turns to obsession; TOTS TO TEENS.. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A CARING PARENT
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