REDUCTANT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reductant mean? 

• REDUCTANT (noun)
  The noun REDUCTANT has 1 sense:

1. a substance capable of bringing about the reduction of another substance as it itself is oxidized; used in photography to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the loose silver

  Familiarity information: REDUCTANT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REDUCTANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A substance capable of bringing about the reduction of another substance as it itself is oxidized; used in photography to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the loose silver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

reducer; reducing agent; reductant

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

chemical agent (an agent that produces chemical reactions)

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

hydrazine (a colorless fuming corrosive liquid; a powerful reducing agent; used chiefly in rocket fuels)

Derivation:

reduce (to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the number of electrons)

 Context examples 

Mars's rocky, subterranean layer once, for some hundreds of millions of years, had enough water and reductants to support some of the same kinds of microbial communities seen on Earth.

(Study suggests Mars hosted life-sustaining habitat for millions of years, Wikinews)

The substance gaining electrons ("oxidizing agent" or "oxidant") is oxidizing the substance that is losing electrons ("reducing agent" or "reductant").

(Oxidation/Reduction, NCI Thesaurus)