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Catalyst vs Antagonist - What's the difference?

catalyst | antagonist |

As nouns the difference between catalyst and antagonist

is that catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process while antagonist is an opponent or enemy.

catalyst

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (chemistry) A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.
  • * 1988 , Biochemistry , 3rd edition, page 177
  • Enzymes, the catalysts of biological systems, are remarkable molecular devices that determine the pattern of chemical transformations.
  • Someone or something that encourages progress or change.
  • Economic development and integration are working as a catalyst for peace.
  • * 1978 , Ernest George Schwiebert, Trout , Volume 2
  • It was a morning baptized by my first cup of coffee, freshly brewed over a gravel-bar fire, while they celebrated with the stronger catalyst of sour-mash whiskey in their fishing-vest cups.
  • * 2004 , Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East , page 76
  • Israel's fear for the reactor—rather than Egypt's of it—was the greater catalyst for war.
  • * 2006 , The Freedom Writers, with Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them , Diary 74
  • Rosa Parks was a true catalyst' for change and she was only one person. Hearing about Rosa Parks and her protest showed me that there is hope for me and all the students in Ms. G's classes to truly be ' catalysts for change.
  • * '>citation
  • (literature) An inciting incident which that sets the successive conflict into motion.
  • (automotive) A catalytic converter.
  • Synonyms

    * (Someone or something that encourages progress or change) stimulus, straw that stirs the drink

    Antonyms

    * (something that encourages change) inhibitor * (something that enhances or accelerates) dampener

    Derived terms

    * catalyse, catalyze * catalysis * catalytic

    See also

    * enzyme

    antagonist

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An opponent or enemy.
  • * Milton
  • antagonist of Heaven's Almighty King
  • * Hooker
  • our antagonists in these controversies
  • One who antagonizes or stirs.
  • (biochemistry) A chemical that binds to a receptor but does not produce a physiological response, blocking the action of agonist chemicals.
  • * 2001': The calcium '''antagonists represent one of the top ten classes of prescription drugs in terms of commercial value, with worldwide sales of nearly $10 billion in 1999. — Leslie Iversen, ''Drugs: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford 2001, p. 41)
  • The main character or force opposing the protagonist in a literary work or drama.
  • (anatomy) A muscle that acts in opposition to another.
  • A flexor, which bends a part, is the antagonist of an extensor, which extends it.

    Antonyms

    * protagonist * agonist (biochemistry)

    Anagrams

    *