1. To wind or move in a spiral course
   "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky";
   - gyrate, spiral
    
2. Wind around something in coils or loops
   "The snake coiled around the branch";
   - loop, curl
    
3. Make without a potter's wheel
   "This famous potter coils all of her vessels";
   - handbuild, hand-build

1. A structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
   "a coil of rope";
   - spiral, volute, whorl, helix
    
2. A round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
   "The poet described the coil of rose petals unfurling";
   - whorl, roll, curl, curlicue, ringlet, gyre, scroll
    
3. A transformer that supplies high voltage to spark plugs in a petrol engine
   "The mechanic replaced the faulty ignition coil"
    
4. A contraceptive device placed inside a woman's womb
   "She chose to use a coil as her preferred method of birth control"
    
5. Tubing that is wound in a spiral
   "The refrigerator's cooling coil needed to be replaced"
    
6. Reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit
   "The electrician installed a new coil to improve the circuit's performance"

Derived forms: coils, coiled, coiling

Type of: birth control device, construction, contraceptive, contraceptive device, forge, form, mold [N. Amer], mould [Brit, Cdn], preventative, preventive, prophylactic device, reactor, roll, round shape, shape, structure, transformer, tube, tubing, turn, twine, wind[2], work, wrap

Antonym: uncoil

Encyclopedia: Coil, Charles