coil

name

1. A surname.

noun

1. A wad of cash.

verb

Etymology: 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.

1. 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.”

2. To wind into loops (roughly) around a common center.

   “The sailor coiled the free end of the hawser on the pier.”

3. To wind cylindrically or spirally.

   “to coil a rope when not in use”

   “The snake coiled itself before springing.”

4. To build a pot (etc) with clay coils.
5. 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”