I. ˈkȯil, esp before pause or consonant -ȯiəl noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. : noisy disturbance : tumult , turmoil
2.
a. : a troublesome activity or disturbance especially over a trifling matter : a great ado : fuss
here's a coil raised, a pother and for what — Robert Browning
b. : worldly activities, affairs, or troubles
in that sleep of death … when we have shuffled off this mortal coil — Shakespeare
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle French coillir to collect, gather together — more at cull
transitive verb
1. : to wind (something long and pliable, as a rope) into rings laid within or on top of one another or wound spirally about an object
the snake coiled itself about its victim
she coiled her hair at the back of her head
2. : to encircle and hold with or as if with coils
3. : to roll or twist (as oneself) into a shape resembling a coil
she coiled herself upon the bed with a book
intransitive verb
: to move in a circular, spiral, or winding course
under the image on the water the water coils and goes — R.P.Warren
: form a coil : lie in coils : wind
Synonyms: see wind
III. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a series of loops or a spiral (as of a flexible strand or sheet)
her hair hung in neat coils
: an arrangement of something in a spiral or in concentric rings
large coils of sheet metal
b. : a single loop or part of such a coil
the town nearly enclosed by a coil of the river
2. : a helix or spiral of insulated wire wound on a spool or other structure usually for electromagnetic effect or for providing resistance
3. : a series of connected pipes in rows, layers, or windings (as in steam-heating or water-heating apparatus)
4. : a roll of postage stamps for use in a stamp machine or other type of stamps dispenser ; also : a stamp from such a roll
5.
a. : the action of coiling, winding up, or tensing (as of a spring)
the better coil in the legs, the greater spring for lift — H.O.Crisler
b. coils plural : something resembling a coil or a coiling (as of rope) in that it binds, restricts, or entangles
wrestled with the coils of convention — Clive Bell
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
dialect : haycock
V. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: cock
coiling hay