Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Chemistry A substance, usually used in small amounts relative to the reactants, that modifies and increases the rate of a reaction without being consumed in the process.
  • noun One that precipitates a process or event, especially without being involved in or changed by the consequences.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In physical chemistry Same as catalytic agent (which see).

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.
  • noun something that serves as a precipitating occasion for an event.
  • noun something or someone that causes events to happen with itself being changed.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.
  • noun Someone or something that encourages progress or change.
  • noun automotive A catalytic converter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun something that causes an important event to happen
  • noun (chemistry) a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From catalysis.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From catalysis +‎ -ist.

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Examples

  • Malone had filed the word catalyst in his mental Rolodex, right beside another nagging question.

    The Shattered Blue Line Patrick A. Davis 2005

  • ‡ The term catalyst is often used to refer to the prime agent of any change: “She was the catalyst for the reorganization.

    catalyst 2002

  • The breakthrough came in 1971 when Yves Chauvin presented new experiments and suggested that the catalyst is a carbon/metal compound in which the metal is bonded to carbon with a double bond.

    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2005: Presentation Speech 2005

  • Today, perhaps, the term catalyst is most often heard in connection with purification of vehicle exhausts, a process in which the metals platinum and rhodium catalyze the degradation of the contaminant nitrous oxides.

    The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1989 - Presentation Speech 1989

  • This trial provides another key, short term catalyst for Ampio, at a time when developments are moving swiftly on multiple fronts.

    unknown title 2011

  • With results due out later this year, Optina provides another key, short term catalyst for Ampio.

    unknown title 2011

  • But they are part of a $1 billion annual operating expense reduction that should offer a short term catalyst for profit growth.

    unknown title 2011

  • It's widely expected that AMR-101 is as close to a shoo-in as you can get in the FDA approval business, which makes longs eager to load up during the current drop in order to benefit from any future spike, but the lack of an immediate or short term catalyst - given that an acquisition looks to be off the table - has the more impatient investors eager to move on for the time being in the search for a quick mover.

    unknown title 2011

  • And part of the catalyst is get yourself in trouble.

    More From Jon Stewart's 'Fresh Air' Interview 2010

  • And part of the catalyst is get yourself in trouble.

    More From Jon Stewart's 'Fresh Air' Interview 2010

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  • A strain of medical marijuana said to relieve symptoms of PMS.

    January 15, 2010