accelerant

American  

[ak-sel-er-uhnt] / ækˈsɛl ər ənt /

noun

1. something that speeds up a process.

2. Chemistry. accelerator.

3. 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.

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accelerant British  

/ ækˈsɛlərənt /

noun

1. chem another name for accelerator

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accelerant Scientific  

/ ăk-sĕl′ər-ənt /

1. A substance, such as a petroleum distillate, that is used as a catalyst, as in spreading an intentionally set fire.

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Etymology

Origin of accelerant

1915–20; < Latin accelerant- (stem of accelerāns ) hastening (present participle of accelerāre ). See accelerate

Example Sentences

“It’s still early to make market-share assessments,” Moore said, adding that while AMD’s deal to deploy six gigawatts’ worth of its systems with OpenAI “is clearly an accelerant,” there is still uncertainty as AMD and OpenAI will have to rely on other cloud providers to ramp the rollout.

From MarketWatch

The force said an accelerant was used to start the fire.

From BBC

The samples were rejected as they needed to be airtight so they could retain vapour from any potential accelerant used, he added.

From BBC

Creature and master, emanation and accelerant.

From Salon

The ongoing quibbling over whether "The Bear" is a comedy or a drama received a new splash of accelerant when the FX series landed 23 Emmy Award nominations on Wednesday.

From Salon