1.  coil(n = noun.artifact) helix, spiral, volute, whorl - a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; "a coil of rope"
is a kind of construction, structure
has particulars: hank
Derived forms verb coil₃, verb coil₁

2.  coil(n = noun.shape) curl, curlicue, gyre, ringlet, roll, scroll, whorl - a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals);
is a kind of round shape
has particulars: corolla, calyx, verticil
Derived forms verb coil₃, verb coil₁

3.  coil(n = noun.artifact) - a transformer that supplies high voltage to spark plugs in a gasoline engine;
is a kind of transformer

4.  coil(n = noun.artifact) - a contraceptive device placed inside a woman's womb;
is a kind of birth control device, contraceptive, contraceptive device, preventative, preventive, prophylactic device

5.  coil(n = noun.artifact) - tubing that is wound in a spiral;
is a kind of tube, tubing
has particulars: condenser

6.  coil(n = noun.artifact) - reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit;
is a kind of reactor
has particulars: armature, astatic coils, choke, choke coil, choking coil, field coil, field winding, induction coil, primary, primary coil, primary winding, head, read/write head, secondary, secondary coil, secondary winding, solenoid, tickler coil

1.  coil(v = verb.motion) gyrate, spiral - to wind or move in a spiral course; "the muscles and nerves of his fine drawn body were coiling for action"; "black smoke coiling up into the sky"; "the young people gyrated on the dance floor"
is one way to turn
Derived forms noun coil₁, noun coil₂
Sample sentences: Something ----s; Something is ----ing PP

2.  coil(v = verb.creation) hand-build, handbuild - make without a potter's wheel; "This famous potter hand-builds all of her vessels"
is one way to forge, form, mold, mould, shape, work
Sample sentences: Somebody ----s something

3.  coil(v = verb.contact) curl, loop - wind around something in coils or loops;
is one way to roll, twine, wind, wrap
Antonym: uncoil
Derived forms noun coil₁, noun coil₂
Sample sentences: They coil the wire around the stick; The wires coil around the stick

1.  To wind cylindrically or spirally; as, to coil a rope when not in use; the snake coiled itself before springing. [1913 Webster]

2.  To encircle and hold with, or as with, coils. T. Edwards. [1913 Webster]

   To wind itself cylindrically or spirally; to form a coil; to wind; -- often with about or around. [1913 Webster]
"You can see his flery serpents . . .
Coiting, playing in the water." [1913 Webster]

1.  A ring, series of rings, or spiral, into which a rope, or other like thing, is wound. [1913 Webster]
"The wild grapevines that twisted their coils from trec to tree." [1913 Webster]

2.  Fig.: Entanglement; toil; mesh; perplexity. [1913 Webster]

3.  A series of connected pipes in rows or layers, as in a steam heating apparatus. [1913 Webster]

   A noise, tumult, bustle, or confusion. Shak. [1913 Webster]

coil, n. & v.
--n.
1 anything arranged in a joined sequence of concentric circles.
2 a length of rope, a spring, etc., arranged in this way.
3 a single turn of something coiled, e.g. a snake.
4 a lock of hair twisted and coiled.
5 an intra-uterine contraceptive device in the form of a coil.
6 Electr. a device consisting of a coiled wire for converting low voltage to high voltage, esp. for transmission to the sparking plugs of an internal-combustion engine.
7 a piece of wire, piping, etc., wound in circles or spirals.
8 a roll of postage stamps.
--v.
1 tr. arrange in a series of concentric loops or rings.
2 tr. & intr. twist or be twisted into a circular or spiral shape.
3 intr. move sinuously.

coil, n.

Idiom:
this mortal coil the difficulties of earthly life (with ref. to Shakesp. Hamlet III. i. 67).

Etymology:
16th c.: orig. unkn.

N  complexity, complexness, complexus, complication, implication, intricacy, intrication, perplexity, network, labyrinth, wilderness, jungle, involution, raveling, entanglement, coil, sleave, tangled skein, knot, Gordian knot, wheels within wheels, kink, gnarl, knarl, webwork, difficulty, gnarled, knarled, complex, complexed, intricate, complicated, perplexed, involved, raveled, entangled, knotted, tangled, inextricable, irreducible.

N  difficulty, hardness, impracticability, tough work, hard work, uphill work, hard task, Herculean task, Augean task, task of Sisyphus, Sisyphean labor, tough job, teaser, rasper, dead lift, dilemma, embarrassment, deadlock, perplexity, intricacy, entanglement, complexity, cross fire, awkwardness, delicacy, ticklish card to play, knot, Gordian knot, dignus vindice nodus, net, meshes, maze, coil, crooked path, involvement, nice point, delicate point, subtle point, knotty point, vexed question, vexata quaestio, poser, puzzle, paradox, hard nut to crack, nut to crack, bone to pick, crux, pons asinorum, where the shoe pinches, nonplus, quandary, strait, pass, pinch, pretty pass, stress, brunt, critical situation, crisis, trial, rub, emergency, exigency, scramble, scrape, hobble, slough, quagmire, hot water, hornet's nest, sea of troubles, peck of troubles, pretty kettle of fish, pickle, stew, imbroglio, mess, ado, false position, set fast, stand, standstill, deadlock, dead set, fix, horns of a dilemma, cul de sac, hitch, stumbling block, crab, curmudgeon, difficult, not easy, hard, tough, troublesome, toilsome, irksome, operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable, sooner said than done, more easily said than done, easier said than done, difficult to deal with, hard to deal with, ill-conditioned, crabbed, crabby, not to be handled with kid gloves, not made with rose water, awkward, unwieldy, unmanageable, intractable, stubborn, perverse, refractory, plaguy, trying, thorny, rugged, knotted, knotty, invious, pathless, trackless, labyrinthine, intricate, complicated, impracticable, not feasible, desperate, embarrassing, perplexing, delicate, ticklish, critical, beset with difficulties, full of difficulties, surrounded by difficulties, entangled by difficulties, encompassed with difficulties, under a difficulty, in a box, in difficulty, in hot water, in the suds, in a cleft stick, in a fix, in the wrong box, in a scrape, in deep water, in a fine pickle, in extremis, between two stools, between Scylla and Charybdis, surrounded by shoals, surrounded by breakers, surrounded by quicksands, at cross purposes, not out of the wood, reduced to straits, hard pressed, sorely pressed, run hard, pinched, put to it, straitened, hard up, hard put to it, hard set, put to one's shifts, puzzled, at a loss, at the end of one's tether, at the end of one's rope, at one's wit's end, at a nonplus, at a standstill, graveled, nonplused, nonplussed, stranded, aground, stuck fast, set fast, up a tree, at bay, aux abois, driven into a corner, driven from pillar to post, driven to extremity, driven to one's wit's end, driven to the wall, au bout de son Latin, out of one's depth, thrown out, accomplished with difficulty, hard-fought, hard-earned, with difficulty, with much ado, barely, hardly, uphill, against the stream, against the grain, d rebours, invita Minerva, in the teeth of, at a pinch, upon a pinch, at long odds, against long odds, ay there's the rub, hic labor hoc opus, things are come to a pretty pass, ab inconvenienti, ad astra per aspera, acun chemin de fleurs ne conduit a la gloire.

N  convolution, winding, convolution, involution, circumvolution, wave, undulation, tortuosity, anfractuosity, sinuosity, sinuation, meandering, circuit, circumbendibus, twist, twirl, windings and turnings, ambages, torsion, inosculation, reticulation, rivulation, roughness, coil, roll, curl, buckle, spiral, helix, corkscrew, worm, volute, rundle, tendril, scollop, scallop, escalop, kink, ammonite, snakestone, serpent, eel, maze, labyrinth, knot, convoluted, winding, twisted, tortile, tortive, wavy, undated, undulatory, circling, snaky, snake-like, serpentine, serpent, anguill, vermiform, vermicular, mazy, tortuous, sinuous, flexuous, anfractuous, reclivate, rivulose, scolecoid, sigmoid, sigmoidal, spiriferous, spiroid, involved, intricate, complicated, perplexed, labyrinth, labyrinthic, labyrinthian, labyrinthine, peristaltic, daedalian, kinky, knotted, wreathy, frizzly, crepe, buckled, raveled, spiral, coiled, helical, cochleate, cochleous, screw-shaped, turbinated, turbiniform, in and out, round and round, a can of worms, Gordian knot.

VB  be convoluted, wind, twine, turn and twist, twirl, wave, undulate, meander, inosculate, entwine, intwine, twist, coil, roll, wrinkle, curl, crisp, twill, frizzle, crimp, crape, indent, scollop, scallop, wring, intort, contort, wreathe.

N  circuition, circulation, turn, curvet, excursion, circumvention, circumnavigation, circumambulation, northwest passage, circuit, turning, wrench, evolution, coil, corkscrew, turning, circuitous, circumforaneous, circumfluent, round about.

choke coil, choking coil, coil spring, field coil, ignition coil, inductance coil, induction coil, primary coil, reactance coil, rotor coil, ruhmkorff's coil, secondary coil, spark coil, stator coil, tesla coil, tickler coil