coil

/kɔɪ(ə)l/

/kɔɪl/

Other forms: coils; coiled; coiling

A coil is a spiral shape or a series of circles, each one inside another. You might see a coil of rope on a dock or coils of hair in a fancy hairdo.

A snake naturally curls its body into a coil, and the end of a whip after it's been cracked tends to form a coil. To move in this way is also to coil, as when your cat coils around your leg or you coil a necklace around your finger. This verb form is the earliest meaning of coil, from the Middle French coillir, "to gather," with the Latin root colligere, "to gather together."

Definitions of coil

1. noun

   a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
   synonyms: curl, curlicue, gyre, ringlet, roll, scroll, whorl

   types:

   corolla

   (botany) the whorl of petals of a flower that collectively form an inner floral envelope or layer of the perianth

   calyx

   (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green

   verticil

   a whorl of leaves growing around a stem

   hull

   persistent enlarged calyx at base of e.g. a strawberry or raspberry

   pappus

   calyx composed of scales or bristles or featherlike hairs in plants of the Compositae such as thistles and dandelions

   type of:

   round shape

   a shape that is curved and without sharp angles
2. noun

   a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops
   “a coil of rope”

   synonyms: helix, spiral, volute, whorl

   types:

   hank

   a coil of rope or wool or yarn

   skein

   coils of worsted yarn

   type of:

   construction, structure

   a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts
3. noun

   tubing that is wound in a spiral
   types:

   condenser

   a hollow coil that condenses by abstracting heat

   type of:

   tube, tubing

   conduit consisting of a long hollow object (usually cylindrical) used to hold and conduct objects or liquids or gases
4. noun

   reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit
   types:

   armature

   coil in which voltage is induced by motion through a magnetic field

   astatic coils

   an arrangement of coils used in sensitive electrical instruments; the coils are arranged to give zero resultant external magnetic field when a current passes through them and to have zero electromotive force induced in them by an external magnetic field

   choke, choke coil, choking coil

   a coil of low resistance and high inductance used in electrical circuits to pass direct current and attenuate alternating current

   field coil, field winding

   the electric coil around a field magnet that produces the magneto motive force to set up the flux in an electric machine

   induction coil

   a coil for producing a high voltage from a low-voltage source

   primary, primary coil, primary winding

   coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit

   head, read/write head

   (computer science) a tiny electromagnetic coil and metal pole used to write and read magnetic patterns on a disk

   secondary, secondary coil, secondary winding

   coil such that current is induced in it by passing a current through the primary coil

   solenoid

   a coil of wire around an iron core; becomes a magnet when current passes through the coil

   tickler coil

   a small coil in series with the anode of a vacuum tube and coupled to the grid to provide feedback

   ignition coil

   an induction coil that converts current from a battery into the high-voltage current required by spark plugs

   rotor, rotor coil

   the rotating armature of a motor or generator

   spark coil

   an induction coil used to create sparks

   type of:

   reactor

   an electrical device used to introduce reactance into a circuit
5. noun

   a contraceptive device placed inside a woman's womb
   type of:

   birth control device, contraceptive, contraceptive device, preventative, preventive, prophylactic device

   an agent or device intended to prevent conception
6. noun

   a transformer that supplies high voltage to spark plugs in a gasoline engine
   type of:

   transformer

   an electrical device by which alternating current of one voltage is changed to another voltage
7. verb

   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”

   synonyms: gyrate, spiral

   type of:

   turn

   change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
8. verb

   make without a potter's wheel
   synonyms: hand-build, handbuild

   type of:

   forge, form, mold, mould, shape, work

   make something, usually for a specific function
9. verb

   wind around something in coils or loops
   synonyms: curl, loop

   antonyms:

   uncoil

   unwind or untwist

   type of:

   roll, twine, wind, wrap

   arrange or coil around