Resile

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  resile \re*sile"\ (r[-e]*z[imac]l"), v. i. [imp. & p. p.
     {resiled} (-z[imac]ld"); p. pr. & vb. n. {resiling}.] [L.
     resilire to leap or spring back; pref. re- re- + salire to
     leap, spring. See {Salient}.]
     To start back; to recoil; to recede from a purpose. --J.
     Ellis.


     [1913 Webster] resilience

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  resile
       v 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"