Flywheel

noun

noun ·2 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A rotating mass used to maintain the speed of a machine within certain limits while the machine receives or releases energy at a varying rate, or as a form of energy storage.

    "They were fitted with flywheels 25 ft. in dia. and weighing 50 tons each. The energy stored in such flywheels is very great, and in this case was of the order of 7,000,000 lb./ft. each."

  2. 2
    regulator consisting of a heavy wheel that stores kinetic energy and smooths the operation of a reciprocating engine wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
acceleratorautoautomobilecounterweightenginefixative

Example

More examples

"Then his 27-year-old grandson, Matt Jost, struggles with a large flywheel to start the tractor."

Etymology

From fly + wheel.

Related phrases

fluid flywheelangular momentum

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.