mainspring Hear it!

mainspring definition

main·spring (-spriŋ′)

noun

  1. the principal spring in a clock, watch, or other mechanism; driving spring, whose steady uncoiling keeps the mechanism running
  2. the chief motive or cause

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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