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catalyst

ca·ta·lyst

UK/ˈkæt.ɪ.lɪst/ US/ˈkæt.ə.lɪst/ uncommon

noun

1.

(chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected

Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

something that causes an important event to happen

  • “the invasion acted as a catalyst to unite the country”

Origin

From catalysis + -ist.

Phrases

  • Adams's catalyst
  • Grubbs' catalyst
  • Lindlar catalyst
  • phase-transfer catalyst
  • stereospecific catalyst
  • triphase catalyst
  • Vandenberg catalyst
  • Ziegler catalyst

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.