coil: Meaning and Definition of

coil

Pronunciation: (koil), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to wind into continuous, regularly spaced rings one above the other: to coil a wire around a pencil.
  2. to wind on a flat surface into rings one around the other: He coiled the rope on the deck.
  3. to gather (rope, wire, etc.) into loops: She coiled the garden hose and hung it on the hook.
—v.i.
  1. to form rings, spirals, etc.; gather or retract in a circular way: The snake coiled, ready to strike.
  2. to move in or follow a winding course: The river coiled through the valley.
—n.
  1. a connected series of spirals or rings into which a rope or the like is wound.
  2. a single such ring.
  3. an arrangement of pipes, coiled or in a series, as in a radiator.
  4. a continuous pipe having inlet and outlet, or flow and return ends.
  5. an intrauterine device.
    1. a conductor, as a copper wire, wound up in a spiral or other form.
    2. a device composed essentially of such a conductor.
    3. Seeignition coil.
    1. a stamp issued in a roll, usually of 500 stamps, and usually perforated vertically or horizontally only.
    2. a roll of such stamps.

coil

Pronunciation: (koil), [key]
— n.
  1. a noisy disturbance; commotion; tumult.
  2. trouble; bustle; ado.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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