balance wheel

Public colleges and universities have long been known as the balance wheel in state budgets.

I observed with special delight as a watchmaker inserted a balance wheel into a new watch, and it came to life for the first time.

In bad times, states often use their higher education funds as the balance wheel to keep their budget in order.

The watch’s mechanisms — including its “balance wheel,” whose oscillation is visible through an opening in the watch face — are so precise that the device loses or gains only two seconds a day.

We sat down and did a "balance wheel," writing down all the different aspects of my life so I could figure out what I needed to work on.