coil
noun
a connected series of spirals or rings that rope, wire, or the like has been formed into.
was coiling
-
past progressiveof coil.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Now Roberto Vega was bouncing his head as if jazz were being played somewhere not far away and the congregation was coiling slowly like a snake, waiting for the Holy Spirit to strike.
From "Bodega Dreams" by Ernesto Quinonez
I was coiling up the gear in the waist when she lurched heavily to windward, just as a green mass of water lifted itself like a hill on that side.
From The Log of a Sea-Waif Being Recollections of the First Four Years of My Sea Life by Frank T. Bullen
Not far away, and not far beneath him, a ghostly violet haze was spreading through the fog, and the fog itself was coiling back from it until it formed a dense white wall.
From Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930 by Harry Bates
Even as he was coiling up the rest of the rope, the beast gave a howl of fury and with a tremendous leap was halfway up the wall.
From The Saracen: Land of the Infidel by Robert Shea
While she was coiling her rope, he was making half-hearted buck jumps across the corral.
From Jean of the Lazy A by B. M. Bower
