coiling

Etymology

verb

1. present participle and gerund of coil

noun

1. The pattern or motion of something that coils.
   Holding out her small olive hand before her captain, she said in mild and slowest Spanish, "Senor, I buried him;" then paused, struggled as against the writhed coilings of a snake, and cringing suddenly, leaped up, repeating in impassioned pain, "I buried him, my life, my soul!" 1854, Herman Melville, The Encantadas
2. The process of fitting a ship with electromagnetic coils, so that it can be degaussed while travelling.