Synonyms

flywheel

American

[flahy-hweel, -weel] / ˈflaɪˌʰwil, -ˌwil /

noun

Machinery.

a heavy disk or wheel rotating on a shaft so that its momentum gives almost uniform rotational speed to the shaft and to all connected machinery.

flywheel British

/ ˈflaɪˌwiːl /

noun

a heavy wheel that stores kinetic energy and smooths the operation of a reciprocating engine by maintaining a constant speed of rotation over the whole cycle

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

flywheels

plural

Etymology

Origin of flywheel

First recorded in 1775–85; fly ² + wheel

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.

See Examples For:

flywheel flywheels

The ultimate expression of Nvidia’s flywheel strategy might be the data-center project in Portsmouth, Ohio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

“Taken together, our brand flywheel is working,” Niccol said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Nvidia’s capital allocation strategy, powered by its AI-driven cash flywheel, prioritizes funding its high-return growth initiatives, expanding its AI ecosystem, and returning significant excess cash to shareholders.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Whilst these devices are designed for longer term space missions, the recent Artemis II mission around the moon took a specially developed exercise device called the flywheel.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Marine engines have more horsepower, so it takes more strength to turn the flywheel.

From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen

Images on social media purport to show one of the chairlift's flywheels off it's spoke.

From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2025

Just know that its serrated flywheels can be harsh on darts.

From The Verge ● Jul. 11, 2022

He wanted to see if his next flywheels could power a project with higher ideals.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 10, 2019

Excess solar energy will be stored via flywheels housed in a communal building.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 14, 2017

It grew louder, angrier, and suggested the high-velocity spin of flywheels or electric turbines turning at impossible speed.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023