coil

¹ American  

[koil] / kɔɪl /

noun

1. a connected series of spirals or rings that rope, wire, or the like has been formed into.

   A coil of string was wound around the pole.

2. one of a connected series of spirals or rings that rope, wire, or the like has been formed into.

   Grab the first coil of the yarn and slip it over the other two.

3. an arrangement of pipes wound up in a spiral or series, as in a radiator.

4. a continuous pipe having inlet and outlet, or flow and return ends.

5. Medicine/Medical. an intrauterine device.

6. Electricity.

   1. a conductor, such as a copper wire, wound up in a spiral or similar form.

   2. a device made up of this type of conductor.

   3. ignition coil.

7. Philately.

   1. a stamp issued in a roll, usually of 500 stamps, and usually perforated vertically or horizontally only.

   2. a roll of such stamps.

---

verb (used with object)

• coils,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coiled,
  past participle,  past
• coiling
  present participle

1. to wind into continuous, regularly spaced rings one above the other.

   The first step of this craft is to coil a wire around a pencil.

2. to wind on a flat surface into a connected series of rings, one atop 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.

verb (used without object)

• coils,
  present (3rd person singular)
• coiled,
  past participle,  past
• coiling
  present participle

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.

coil ² American  

[koil] / kɔɪl /

noun

Archaic.

1. a noisy disturbance; commotion; tumult.

2. trouble; bustle; ado.

---

coil ¹ British  

/ kɔɪl /

verb

1. to wind or gather (ropes, hair, etc) into loops or (of rope, hair, etc) to be formed in such loops

2. (intr) to move in a winding course

---

noun

1. something wound in a connected series of loops

2. a single loop of such a series

3. an arrangement of pipes in a spiral or loop, as in a condenser

4. an electrical conductor wound into the form of a spiral, sometimes with a soft iron core, to provide inductance or a magnetic field See also induction coil

5. an intrauterine contraceptive device in the shape of a coil

6. the transformer in a petrol engine that supplies the high voltage to the sparking plugs

coil ² British  

/ kɔɪl /

noun

1. the troubles and activities of the world (in the Shakespearean phrase this mortal coil )

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• coilability
  noun
• coiler
  noun
• coilable
  adjective
• uncoiled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• coiling
  present
• coiled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• coil
  simple
• coils
  simple
• have coiled
  perfect
• has coiled
  perfect
• am coiling
  progressive
• are coiling
  progressive
• is coiling
  progressive
• have been coiling
  perfect progressive
• has been coiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• coiled
  simple
• had coiled
  perfect
• was coiling
  progressive
• were coiling
  progressive
• had been coiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will coil
  simple
• will have coiled
  perfect
• will be coiling
  progressive
• will have been coiling
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of coil¹

First recorded in 1605–15; of uncertain origin; perhaps from Middle French, Old French coillir, cuillir “to take” (modern French cueillir “to gather, pick”), from Latin colligere “to gather together”; see collect, cull

Origin of coil²

First recorded in 1560–70; origin uncertain

---

Explanation

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

coil coils coiled coiling

She had been experiencing severe abdominal pain since March and thought the coil was to blame.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

But, with "no history of ovarian cancer in the family whatsoever" so thought her pain was being caused by her coil.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

The “biohack” begins at the BioCharger’s base, where a large coil creates pulsed electromagnetic fields.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

During the first several weeks after the eggs were laid, the embryos appeared to coil only dextrally, meaning to the right, as viewed from head to tail.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

Upon the low table beside it lay a stone hammering block and a coil of gold wire.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Wartsila also recommended tightening bolts and locking them in place with superglue to improve reliability, particularly involving air leakages, failed silencers and solenoid coils becoming loose.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

The frequencies from the BioCharger’s three coils and light from the tubes are said to penetrate the user’s cell walls to balance their cellular makeup, creating relaxation, clarity and, ultimately, fulfilling the user’s desired “recipe.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Traditional MRI antennas, also known as RF coils, often have trouble collecting enough signal from tissues located deep inside the body or in anatomically complex regions.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 10, 2026

On Independence Day 1826, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson—former presidents who had been great friends, then bitter enemies, then friends again—shuffled off their mortal coils within hours of each other.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

The induction-balance apparatus used coils of electricity-conducting wire to detect metal.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

But many of the features that made them distinctive, including grog tempering, coiled construction and carefully standardized clay preparation, were hidden inside the finished pottery and therefore difficult to copy.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

When officers finally acted, they pulled only half the hose out, leaving the rest coiled inside the cabinet, and stood there baffled as to why the water wouldn’t flow.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Christopher Gadsden’s coiled rattlesnake “Don’t Tread On Me” flag from 1775 symbolized that fight for freedom: Don’t tell me what to do.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

Zidane, tracking the star-patterned leather like a skeet shooter, hips coiled, unloaded a gold-medal hit.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

Neel’s stomach coiled like a cobra—how could a big, powerful man like Gupta hunt down a defenseless tiger cub?

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

The 2011 “Snake” dress, an oily, coiling swarm made of black polyvinyl, cotton and tulle, is a Hieronymus Bosch horror, everyone’s nightmare.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

"Raul's CT scan of a snake embryo revealed a structure we had never seen before ¾ it was a pillar of gut stretching through the spiral of the coiling body," Miyashita says.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026

This dynamic “implies a coiling that will eventually resolve in a sharp repricing,” wrote BMO Capital Markets’ head of U.S. rates strategy, Ian Lyngen.

From Barron's ● Apr. 27, 2026

She points out the spool of paper tickets in the box office, now coiling on the floor and ready to be counted.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2025

The basilisk’s head was falling, its body coiling around, hitting pillars as it twisted to face him.

From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• braid
• tendril

---