catalyst

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkæt.ə.lɪst/ UK /ˈkæt.ɪ.lɪst/ See IPA manual

Freq #21475

Meanings

1

noun
Something or someone that causes an important change or event to happen.

The protest was the catalyst for major political reform.
2

noun
A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up itself.

Enzymes act as catalysts in the body's chemical reactions.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · something or someone that... stimulus

2 noun · a substance that speeds up... accelerator

Word family

Forms catalysts

Derived forms catalysecatalysiscatalyticcatalyze

Related forms enzyme

Etymology

From catalysis + -ist.

Topics

People & Society Chemistry

External links

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