accelerant
something that speeds up a process.
Chemistry. accelerator (def. 5).
a substance that accelerates the spread of fire or makes a fire more intense: Arson was suspected when police found accelerants at the scene of the fire.
Origin of accelerant
1Words Nearby accelerant
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use accelerant in a sentence
If you’re successful, it’s a huge accelerant, six to 18 months worth of time, and this is where we’re seeing a lot of regulatory success on our end.
AI and data fuel innovation in clinical trials and beyond | MIT Technology Review Insights | October 6, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewThat said, there’s little doubt that the pandemic was an accelerant.
Customer and employee experience: The new normal | Francesca Fanshawe | July 19, 2022 | MIT Technology ReviewIt was like an accelerant on the embers of anti-Enlightenment thinking, encouraging a basic skepticism of science, even distrust of elemental structures of thought, such as cause and effect.
The virus caused more than a pandemic. It set us all ablaze. | Philip Kennicott | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostThe virus, as Scott Galloway put it, was an accelerant, allowing countless companies to innovate with an abandon they never would have thought possible.
While people across the industry have talked about coronavirus as an accelerant which sped media and marketing down paths they were just starting to tread, much of what happened during this year’s Cyber 5 was driven by highly unusual factors.
‘We’re getting better at swarming the internet’: What publishers learned from the Cyber 5 | Max Willens | December 7, 2020 | Digiday
Thrown into the Middle East pyre, the Zionism-racism charge has been an accelerant, angering, alienating, polarizing both sides.
Delegitimizing Israel Makes Peace Harder to Achieve | Gil Troy | February 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAlso in the apartment were glass jars containing what is believed to be accelerant, black gunpowder, and bullets.
How Alleged Colorado Shooter James Holmes Bought His Guns | Christine Pelisek, Eliza Shapiro | July 21, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTPolice said Powell also attacked his sons with a hatchet or small ax, before igniting the accelerant-fueled blaze.
Will Susan Powell’s Body Be Found After Josh Powell Killed His Sons? | Winston Ross | February 7, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTIt is believed that Burkhart used a fire accelerant similar to charcoal to start the fires.
Inside Los Angeles Arson Suspect Harry Burkhart’s Arrest | Christine Pelisek | January 4, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for accelerant
/ (ækˈsɛlərənt) /
chem another name for accelerator (def. 3)
Origin of accelerant
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for accelerant
[ ăk-sĕl′ər-ənt ]
A substance, such as a petroleum distillate, that is used as a catalyst, as in spreading an intentionally set fire.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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