Entry Word: agent

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 something used to achieve an end <the whitening agent in the detergent is chlorine bleach> <the Church has been the traditional agent for social justice in impoverished countries>

Synonyms agency, instrument, instrumentality, machinery, means, medium, organ, vehicle

Related Words determinant, expedient, factor, influence, ingredient, mechanism, tool; activator, catalyst, driver, energizer, executor, generator, instigator, launcher, mover, power, stimulus, trigger

2 a person who acts or does business for another <the sports agent negotiated a record-breaking contract for the baseball player>

Synonyms attorney, commissary, delegate, deputy, envoy, factor, procurator, proxy, representative

Related Words ambassador, emissary, foreign minister, legate, minister; alternate, backup, pinch hitter, relief, replacement, stand-in, sub, substitute, surrogate, understudy; informer, operative, spy; broker, distributor, manager; arbiter, arbitrator, go-between, intercessor, intermediary, interposer, liaison, mediator, middleman; mouthpiece, spokesperson