coil; coiled shape
Refers to something coiled up, especially a snake or a rope. Often used in the phrase とぐろを巻く (to coil up).
The snake is coiled up.
The rope was lying on the floor in a coil.
Usually written in kana; the kanji forms 塒 and 蜷局 are rare and mainly encountered in literary or specialized contexts.
Rare kanji form; the character 塒 originally means 'roost' or 'perch' and is used here for the coiled shape.
Rare kanji form; 蜷 means 'to coil' and 局 is used phonetically, making this an ateji-like spelling.
The origin is uncertain. It may be related to the verb とぐる (to coil), but the exact derivation is unclear.