CATALYST

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does catalyst mean? 

• CATALYST (noun)
  The noun CATALYST has 2 senses:

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

2. something that causes an important event to happen

  Familiarity information: CATALYST used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CATALYST (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

accelerator; catalyst

Hypernyms ("catalyst" is a kind of...):

activator ((biology) any agency bringing about activation; a molecule that increases the activity of an enzyme or a protein that increases the production of a gene product in DNA transcription)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "catalyst"):

biocatalyst (a biochemical catalyst such as an enzyme)

enzyme (any of several complex proteins that are produced by cells and act as catalysts in specific biochemical reactions)

platinum black (a fine black powder of platinum; used as a catalyst in chemical reactions)

Antonym:

anticatalyst ((chemistry) a substance that retards a chemical reaction or diminishes the activity of a catalyst)

Derivation:

catalyze (change by catalysis or cause to catalyze)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Something that causes an important event to happen

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

the invasion acted as a catalyst to unite the country

Hypernyms ("catalyst" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

 Context examples 

Nickel chloride is used in electroplating, in nickel catalysts and to absorb ammonia in industrial gas masks.

(Nickel Chloride, NCI Thesaurus)

They have such properties as insolubility, are of use in industrial chemical reactions as catalysts, and find use in the making of polymers and in the pharmaceutical industry.

(Mango leaf extract can stop ships from rusting, SciDev.Net)

By using liquid metals as a catalyst, it's possible to turn the gas back into carbon at room temperature, in a process that's efficient and scalable.

(Scientists Turn CO2 into Solid Coal, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Artificial photosynthesis has been around for decades but it has not yet been successfully used to create renewable energy because it relies on the use of catalysts, which are often expensive and toxic.

(Scientists pioneer a new way to turn sunlight into fuel, University of Cambridge)

Cobalt is not only lower-cost, but it is better at producing carbon monoxide than other catalysts.

(‘Artificial leaf’ successfully produces clean gas, University of Cambridge)

Engineers at Lehigh University are the first to utilize a single enzyme biomineralization process to create a catalyst that uses the energy of captured sunlight to split water molecules to produce hydrogen.

(Promising new solar-powered path to hydrogen fuel production, National Science Foundation)

Methyl methanesulfonate is used for laboratory purposes as a catalyst in chemical synthesis and has been tested clinically as a cancer chemotherapeutic agent.

(Methyl Methanesulfonate, NCI Thesaurus)

Nickel acetate is used in textile dyeing processes, in electroplating, and as a catalyst intermediate.

(Nickel Acetate, NCI Thesaurus)

This mineral is used as a metal-impregnated catalyst, as a fertilizer, to control odors in livestock production and is used in animal feed, pet litter and horticultural applications.

(Erionite, NCI Thesaurus)

Beryllium chloride is mainly used to produce beryllium metal, but is also used as an acid catalyst in organic reactions.

(Beryllium Chloride, NCI Thesaurus)