agent
a person or business authorized to act on another's behalf: Our agent in Hong Kong will ship the merchandise.A best-selling author needs a good agent.
a person or thing that acts or has the power to act.
a natural force or object producing or used for obtaining specific results: Many insects are agents of fertilization.
an active cause; an efficient cause.
a person who works for or manages an agency.
a person who acts in an official capacity for a government or private agency as a guard, detective, or spy: an FBI agent;the secret agents of a foreign power.
a person responsible for a particular action: Who was the agent of this deed?
Grammar. a form or construction, usually a noun or noun phrase, denoting an animate being that performs or causes the action expressed by the verb, as the police in The car was found by the police.
a representative of a business firm, especially a traveling salesperson; canvasser; solicitor.
Chemistry. a substance that causes a reaction.
Pharmacology. a drug or chemical capable of eliciting a biological response.
Pathology. any microorganism capable of causing disease.
British. a campaign manager; an election agent.
acting; exerting power (opposed to patient).
to represent (a person or thing) as an agent; act as an agent for: to agent a manuscript;Who agented that deal?
Origin of agent
1Other words for agent
Other words from agent
- coun·ter·a·gent, noun
- in·ter·a·gent, noun
- su·per·a·gent, noun
- un·der·a·gent, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use agent in a sentence
Not actual CIA agents, but U.S. government personnel who have worked very closely with the CIA, and who are fans of the show.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS | Marlow Stern | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAs the agents apprehended and detained the man, the dog remained unleashed, and ran down the hill to where Marino was sleeping.
Girls who are educated give back to their communities; they become change agents and leaders.
Promoting Girls’ Education Isn’t Enough: Malala Can Do More | Paula Kweskin | December 9, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTCIA agents present were polygraphed repeatedly in an effort to determine if any of them were leaking to the media.
Congress Debunks Congress’s Nuttiest Benghazi Theories | Ben Jacobs | November 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNo one was killed in this incident, but both law enforcement agents as well as Cole were wounded.
Sovereign Citizens Are America’s Top Cop-Killers | Caitlin Dickson | November 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
We must have motif first, then technique to adapt and adjust expression and to develop facility in the active agents.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge SouthwickHe conceived an idea of securing agents among the colored people, and in that way effect a good sale.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxTo learn this, he went on the road himself appointing agents and selling to bookstores.
The Homesteader | Oscar MicheauxHe not only repudiates the name “Jahveh,” but tells the official agents of Jahvism that their god is his devil.
Solomon and Solomonic Literature | Moncure Daniel ConwayA great many agents possess the power of attracting leukocytes into the general circulation.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
British Dictionary definitions for agent
/ (ˈeɪdʒənt) /
a person who acts on behalf of another person, group, business, government, etc; representative
a person or thing that acts or has the power to act
a phenomenon, substance, or organism that exerts some force or effect: a chemical agent
the means by which something occurs or is achieved; instrument: wind is an agent of plant pollination
a person representing a business concern, esp a travelling salesman
British short for estate agent
short for secret agent
Origin of agent
1Derived forms of agent
- agential (eɪˈdʒɛnʃəl), adjective
Collins 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 agent
[ ā′jənt ]
A substance that can bring about a chemical reaction or a biological effect. Compare reagent.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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