CATALYST • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Catalyst

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/kˈætələst/ /kˈætəlɪst/ Listen

noun

catalyst n.

(Chem.) A substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected; as, thousands of enzymes serve in concert as calaysts to produce the sequence of reactions we call "life"; the industrial production of cheap ammonia depended on finding a good catalyst.

Something that serves as a precipitating occasion for an event; as, the invasion acted as a catalyst to unite the country. Note: A catalyst is never the main cause of an event, but may serve to hasten events for which the underlying causes are present prior to the appearance or occurrence of the catalyst.

Something or someone that causes events to happen with itself being changed.

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Etymology of 'Catalyst'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Catalyst" Quotes from Famous Books

... City. Its engine ran smoothly, as steam-engines always do. It ran on seventy per cent hydrogen peroxide, first developed as a fuel back in the 1940s for the pumps of the V2 rockets that tried to win the Second World War for Germany. When hydrogen peroxide comes in contact with a catalyst, such as permanganate of potash, it breaks down into oxygen and water. But the water is in the form of high-pressure steam, which is used in engines. The jeep's fuel supplied steam for power and its ashes were water ...

— Operation: Outer Space • William Fitzgerald Jenkins

... repressed men; many of the foreign-born are to be found among them; they cover up because of pride, but they are not afraid of physical danger. Once any man, and particularly a superior, gets through the outer shell, he may have the effect of a catalyst on what is happening inside. If such men did not have basic loyalty, they would never fight. When at last they give their loyalty to an individual, they are usually his to command and will go through ...

— The Armed Forces Officer - Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-2 • U. S. Department of Defense

... same time liberating free fluorine. This reaction could only take place on a planet receiving lots of ultra-violet because so much energy is needed to break up carbon tetrafluoride and hydrofluoric acid. The plant catalyst (doubling for the magnesium in chlorophyll) is nickel. The plants are colored in various ways. They get their metals from ...

— Uller Uprising • Henry Beam Piper, John D. Clark and John F. Carr

... depreciation of the Thai baht and the collapse of domestic demand, however, imports have fallen off sharply—by more than 33%—and Thailand posted a trade surplus of approximately $12 billion in 1998. Foreign investment for new projects, the long-time catalyst of Thailand's economic growth, has also slowed. The CHUAN government has closely adhered to the economic recovery program prescribed by the IMF. The cooperation afforded Thailand stability in the value of its currency in the second half of 1998 and helped replenish foreign ...

— The 1999 CIA Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.