flywheel

American  

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

noun

Machinery.

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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Etymology

Origin of flywheel

First recorded in 1775–85; fly ² + wheel

Example Sentences

"The more capital we can free up within the organisation to invest, the better we can turn this flywheel of making investments to drive future growth," chief financial officer Anat Ashkenazi said.

From BBC • Mar. 29, 2026

In addition to reaching young audiences where they prefer to spend time, digital media will allow the Disney flywheel to move faster than in the physical world, D’Amaro has said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

“Neo reinforces Apple’s flywheel effect by bringing more price-sensitive consumers into the Mac ecosystem, deepening cross-device engagement through iPhone integration features like Handoff that could ultimately drive incremental hardware and services monetization,” Daryanani wrote.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

“But it lacks a large-scale authenticated consumer network, consumer brand and the data flywheel that a two-sided network could provide.”

From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026

The starter cord was a three-foot length of rope that wrapped tightly around the engine’s flywheel.

From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen