flywheel

American  

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

noun

Machinery.

flywheels plural

1. 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.

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flywheel British  

/ ˈflaɪˌwiːl /

noun

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• flywheels
  plural

Etymology

Origin of flywheel

First recorded in 1775–85; fly ² + wheel

Example Sentences

But Erik Goins, founder of app developer Flywheel Studios, thinks it could.

From BBC • Oct. 25, 2025

Last year it unveiled an agreement in the U.S., announcing a deal with taxi companies in New York City and a similar agreement with Flywheel Technologies in San Francisco.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2023

The platforms are run by companies such as Curb and Flywheel, with certain data collected from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2022

At 25, I was working for a fitness company called Flywheel Sports.

From New York Times • Feb. 11, 2022

Turning the Rim of a Flywheel Turning a Flywheel on a Vertical Mill.—The turning of a flywheel is a good example of the kind of work for which a vertical boring mill is adapted.

From Turning and Boring A specialized treatise for machinists, students in the industrial and engineering schools, and apprentices, on turning and boring methods, etc. by Jones, Franklin D.