flywheel
noun
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A heavy wheel attached to a rotating shaft, a flywheel smooths out delivery of power from a motor to a machine. The inertia of the flywheel moderates fluctuations in the speed of the engine and stores the excess energy for intermittent use. In automobile engines, the flywheel smooths out the pulses of energy provided by combustion in the cylinders, and provides energy for the compression stroke of the pistons. In power presses, the punching, shearing, and forming are done in a fraction of the operating cycle. During the rest of the cycle, the speed of the flywheel is built up by a comparatively low-powered motor, and most of the required energy for the cycle is provided by the flywheel.
Examples of flywheel in a Sentence
Andrea Ruskin, Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024
Deep user engagement also creates a flywheel effect between users and content producers/marketplace sellers.
—Zev Fima, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2024
To put it in Silicon Valley terms that many of the progress conference attendees would be familiar with: The flywheel is broken.
—Bryan Walsh, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Once a vinyl record of choice is secured in place by a Signature puck – for stability and dampening – the belt around the platter's girth is driven by a flywheel motor system, which benefits from a vibration-dampening aluminum block.
—Paul Ridden, New Atlas, 18 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Flywheel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flywheel. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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