Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Recoil

Recoiled as … he had seen a snake in his path.
—Joseph Conrad

Recoiled as if an unclean creature touched him.
—Richard Henry Dana (1787–1879)

Recoiled from its purpose, as from the verge of a crag.
—Henry W. Longfellow

Recoiled, as if she had been face to face with an apparition.
—Guy de Maupassant

Like an over-charged gun, recoil.
—William Shakespeare

Recoils, and climbs and closes,
As a wave of the sea turned back.
—Algernon Charles Swinburne