coil

coil¹

—coilable, adj. —coilability, n.

/koyl/, 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.

4. to form rings, spirals, etc.; gather or retract in a circular way: The snake coiled, ready to strike.

5. to move in or follow a winding course: The river coiled through the valley.

n.

6. a connected series of spirals or rings into which a rope or the like is wound.

7. a single such ring.

8. an arrangement of pipes, coiled or in a series, as in a radiator.

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

10. Med. an intrauterine device.

11. Elect.

a. a conductor, as a copper wire, wound up in a spiral or other form.

b. a device composed essentially of such a conductor.

c. See ignition coil.

12. Philately.

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

b. a roll of such stamps.

[1605-15; perh. var. of CULL]

coil²

/koyl/, n.

1. a noisy disturbance; commotion; tumult.

2. trouble; bustle; ado.

[1560-70; orig. uncert.]

* * *

▪ electronics

      in an electric circuit, one or more turns, usually roughly circular or cylindrical, of current-carrying wire designed to produce a magnetic field or to provide electrical resistance or inductance; in the latter case, a coil is also called a choke coil (see also inductance). A soft iron core placed within a coil produces an electromagnet. A cylindrical coil that moves a plunger within it by variations in the current through the coil is known as a solenoid (q.v.).

* * *