Watchspring

The core of the watchspring was his head, the extremity his tail, and, when the bubble touched him, he flicked out like the works of a Waterbury. ❋ Douglas English (N/A)

But what if the pattern in Jupiter's ring was another winding watchspring? ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

Whatever they are, they are winding up like a watchspring. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

Sure enough, the watchspring pattern was in there after all, winding up tighter in each detection. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

The horse was wound as tight as a watchspring, ready to bolt. ❋ Unknown (2003)

The warhead expanded explosively like a watchspring, breaking into thousands of fragments, and several ripped into the Bear's port wing. ❋ Clancy, Tom, 1947- (1986)

Then the temperature rose, and he changed from sphere to cylinder, from cylinder to clumsy crescent, from crescent to watchspring. ❋ Douglas English (N/A)

At five months Buddy weighed 34 pounds and to judge by his actions most of him was watchspring steel geared in high speed. ❋ Sewell Ford (1907)

If it were not for the inhibiting balances, the wound watchspring would run off and spend its force in a few moments. ❋ Henry Lindlahr (1893)

Instead, I'm still wound tighter than a watchspring ahead of next week's trip from St Pancras to Up North ❋ Unknown (2009)

Ironically he has a much deeper agreement with Paley - the person who originally conceived of the 'watchmaker' argument for the existence of God - than he seems ready to contemplate, for whilst Dawkins tweaks the model to provide his 'blind' watchmaker, the idea that the universe is best understood as a watch ie as a Newtonian system; DNA succession tumbling down the generations like the mechanisms driven by a watchspring is common to both. ❋ Sam Norton (2005)

There's a godammed watchspring in my [salad]! ❋ Rod Brock (2006)