accelerant
adjEtymology From accelerate + -ant (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs, or forming adjectives with senses of being prone or tending to do the actions of verbs).
1
Causing acceleration or speeding up; accelerating.
accelerant
nounUK /əkˈsɛləɹ(ə)nt/ · US /əkˈsɛləɹənt/
Etymology From accelerate + -ant (suffix forming agent nouns from verbs, or forming adjectives with senses of being prone or tending to do the actions of verbs).
› Any substance that can bond or mix with, or…
1
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences In the context of fire protection, a substance that accelerates the development of a fire, especially some hydrocarbon-based fuel used to spread a fire caused by arson.
- Accelerant was poured across the beds where the two daughters of a family in Cheshire, Conn., had been tied before a fire during a home invasion in 2007, a fire investigator told jurors on Friday.2010 September 25, William Glaberson, “Accelerant Was on Girls’ Beds, Witness Tells a Connecticut Jury”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
2
Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A substance used to catalyze the vulcanization of rubber.
3
Figuratively Something that speeds up a process or the uptake of something else.
- Hello Neighbor’s experience reflects the rise of video sites like YouTube as an accelerant for the video game business.2017 August 16, Laura Hudson, “Using YouTube as an Accelerant for Video Games”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- [Mike] Skinner can be credited with pouring lots of accelerant on pop in his time. In his absence, Caribbean-derived UK bass music became the de facto sound of British youth.2019 January 26, Kitty Empire [pseudonym], “The Streets review – the agony and ecstasy of a great everyman”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Apr 2019:
1 more example
- But the brutal killing did not capture widespread attention until the security footage was released on Friday, at which point it became an accelerant for conservative arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets in the Trump era.2025 September 9, “A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
- Related terms
- accelerate, accelerated, accelerating, acceleration, accelerator, nonaccelerated, nonaccelerating, unaccelerate, unaccelerated, unaccelerating, catalyst