reducing agent

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. a substance that causes another substance to undergo reduction and that is oxidized in the process.

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reducing agent British  

noun

1. chem a substance that reduces another substance in a chemical reaction, being itself oxidized in the process Compare oxidizing agent

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Etymology

Origin of reducing agent

First recorded in 1795–1805

Example Sentences

Using green hydrogen as a reducing agent avoids these greenhouse gas emissions.

From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 2024

But the milling did prompt the aluminium to act as a reducing agent, as he expected.

From Scientific American • Mar. 30, 2023

A compound that reduces another is called a reducing agent.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

"What we do is basically swapping carbon for electricity as a reducing agent," explained Adam Rauwerdink, the company's senior vice president of business development.

From Salon • May 17, 2022

It has long been known in photography, that a developer must be of the nature of a reducing agent, either inorganic or organic, and many hydroxylic and amidic derivatives of hydrocarbons come under this category.

From Coal and What We Get from It by Meldola, Raphael