Webster's English Dictionary

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escapement

es.cape.ment \is-'ka-p-m*nt\ n 1a: a device in a timepiece which controls 
   the motion of the train of wheel work and through which the energy of the 
   power source is delivered to the pendulum or balance by means of impulses 
   that permit a tooth to escape from a pallet at regular intervals 1b: a 
   ratchet device (as the spacing mechanism of a typewriter) that permit s 
   motion in one direction only in equal steps 2a: the act of escaping  2b: a 
   way of escape : VENT