balance spring
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of balance spring
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
The spiral balance spring revolutionized the accuracy of watches, enabling them to keep time to within a minute a day.
From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011
In 1675 Huygens devised another fundamental improvement, the spiral balance spring.
From Scientific American • Dec. 31, 2011
He invented the spiral balance spring still used in some watches today; made fundamental contributions to mechanics—e.g., the calculation of centrifugal force—and, from a study of the game of dice, to the theory of probability.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Through this work, Hooke came up with the idea of a new kind of pocket watch regulated by a balance spring.
From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin
“I’m coming, my dear, I’m coming; only this balance spring is a job that I cannot well leave,” replied Nicholas, continuing his vocation in the shop, with a magnifying glass attached to his eye.
From Newton Forster The Merchant Service by Marryat, Frederick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
