coil
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK, US) IPA(key): /kɔɪl/
- (Appalachians, obsolete) IPA(key): /kwaɪl/[1]
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔɪl
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English coilen, from Old French coillir, cuillir (“to gather, pluck, pick, cull”) (modern French cueillir), from Latin colligō (“to gather together”), past participle collectus, from com- (“together”) + legō (“to gather”); compare legend. Doublet of cull.

Noun[edit]
coil (plural coils)
- Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.
- the sinuous coils of a snake
- 1819 June 23 – 1820 September 13, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “(please specify the title)”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., New York, N.Y.: […] C. S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC:
- The wild grapevines that twisted their coils or tendrils from tree to tree.
- Any intrauterine device (Abbreviation: IUD)—the first IUDs were coil-shaped.
- (electronics) A coil of electrically conductive wire through which electricity can flow.
- Synonym: inductor
- A cylinder of clay.
- (The first step in making coil pottery is learning how to roll a clay coil. )
- (figurative) Entanglement; perplexity.
- a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Human Life”, in H. Bunker Wright, Monroe K. Spears, editors, The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, Second edition, volume I, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1971, page 687:
- What trifling coil do we mortals keep;
Wake, eat, and drink, evacuate, and sleep.
Derived terms[edit]
- alpine coil
- audio coil
- blowout coil
- choking coil
- coil gun
- coil spring
- coil-sprung
- coil whine
- coil winder
- field coil
- Flemish coil
- head coil
- Helmholtz coil
- ignition coil
- impedance coil
- inductance coil
- induction coil
- mosquito coil
- Oudin coil
- pedestal coil
- plate number coil
- resistance coil
- Rogowski coil
- Ruhmkorff coil
- shading coil
- spark coil
- Tesla coil
- tickler coil
- voice coil
Descendants[edit]
- → Japanese: コイル (koiru)
Translations[edit]
something wound
|
intra-uterine contraceptive device — see intrauterine device
electrical
|
Verb[edit]
coil (third-person singular simple present coils, present participle coiling, simple past and past participle coiled)
- To wind or reel e.g. a wire or rope into regular rings, often around a centerpiece.
- A simple transformer can be made by coiling two pieces of insulated copper wire around an iron heart.
- To wind into loops (roughly) around a common center.
- The sailor coiled the free end of the hawser on the pier.
- To wind cylindrically or spirally.
- to coil a rope when not in use
- The snake coiled itself before springing.
- To build a pot (etc) with clay coils.
- (obsolete, rare) To encircle and hold with, or as if with, coils.
- a. 1757, Thomas Edwards, sonnet to Mr. Nathanael Mason
- Pleasure coil thee in her dangerous snare
- a. 1757, Thomas Edwards, sonnet to Mr. Nathanael Mason
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
wind into regular rings
|
wind into loops
|
to wind cylindrically or spirally
|
Etymology 2[edit]
Unknown.
Noun[edit]
coil (plural coils)
- (now obsolete except in phrases) A noise, tumult, bustle, or turmoil.
- a. 1738, Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux, and John Ozell (translators), François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel
- And when he saw that all the dogs were flocking about her, yarring at the retardment of their access to her, and every way keeping such a coil with her as they are wont to do about a proud or salt bitch, he forthwith departed […]
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, (please specify the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)]:
- If the windes rage, doth not the Sea wax mad, / Threatning the welkin with his big-swolne face? / And wilt thou haue a reason for this coile?
- 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 162:
- this great Savage desired also to see him. A great coyle there was to set him forward.
- 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section IV”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], →OCLC, pages 99–100:
- [T]hey continued ſo extremely fond of Gold, that if Peter ſent them abroad, though it were only upon a Complement; they would Roar, and Spit, and Belch, and Piſs, and Fart, and Snivle out Fire, and keep a perpetual Coyl, till you flung them a Bit of Gold; [...]
- a. 1738, Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux, and John Ozell (translators), François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
noise
|
References[edit]
- ^ Hall, Joseph Sargent (March 2, 1942), “1. The Vowel Sounds of Stressed Syllables”, in The Phonetics of Great Smoky Mountain Speech (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 4), New York: King's Crown Press, , →ISBN, § 15, page 46.
Further reading[edit]
- “coil”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “coil”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams[edit]
Irish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
coil m
- vocative/genitive singular of col (“prohibition; sin, lust; violation; dislike; incest; relation, relationship”)
Noun[edit]
coil m
Mutation[edit]
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
coil | choil | gcoil |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
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