gape malcontent recoil smoulder tentacle

gape

gape /ɡeɪp/ verb [intransitive]

to look at something for a long time, especially with your mouth open, because you are very surprised or shocked
- gape at
  - What are all these people gaping at?
(also gape open) to open widely or be wide open:
1. Dan stood at the door, his shirt gaping open

mal·con·tent /ˈmælkəntent $ ˌmælkənˈtent/ noun [countable]

formal someone who is likely to cause trouble because they are not happy with the way things are organized - used in order to show disapproval.

re·coil /rɪˈkɔɪl/ verb [intransitive]

to move back suddenly and quickly from something you do not like or are afraid of
- recoil from/at
  - She recoiled from his touch as if she had been slapped.
to feel such a strong dislike of a particular situation that you want to avoid it
- recoil from/at
  - He recoils from everything in life that demands hard work.
- We recoil in horror from the thought of subjecting someone to extreme pain.
if a gun recoils, it moves backwards very quickly after it has been fired

recoil /ˈriːkɔɪl/ noun [singular, uncountable]:

smoul·der British English, smolder American English /ˈsməʊldə $ ˈsmoʊldər/ verb [intransitive]

if something such as wood smoulders, it burns slowly without a flame.
literary if someone smoulder, or if their feelings smoulder, they have strong feelings that they do not fully express:
- He sensed a smouldering hostility towards him.
- smoulder with
  - She had spent the evening smouldering with resentment

ten·ta·cle /ˈtentəkəl, ˈtentɪkəl/noun [countable]

one of the long thin parts of a sea creature such as an OCTOPUS which it uses for holding things
tentacles [plural] the influence or effect that something has on other people or things - used to show disapproval
- The company's tentacles spread from car manufacturing to railways.