balance wheel
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of balance wheel
First recorded in 1660–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I observed with special delight as a watchmaker inserted a balance wheel into a new watch, and it came to life for the first time.
From The New Yorker • Mar. 13, 2017
In bad times, states often use their higher education funds as the balance wheel to keep their budget in order.
From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2015
A balance wheel is a finely balanced disk that rotates fully one way and then the other, repeating the cycle over and over.
From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011
Just as gravity controls the swinging oscillation of a pendulum in clocks, this spring regulates the rotary oscillation of a balance wheel in portable timepieces.
From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011
Some balance wheel was misweighted, some gear out of ratio.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
