MEANING
1. To trigger or speed up change by providing a strong stimulus.
2. To speed a chemical reaction without being used up in the overall reaction.
Use it for
describing an event that initiates wider change; showing a policy accelerating an existing development; identifying a stimulus that makes cooperation possible; distinguishing a catalyst for change from its sole causeDistinguishes an initiating or accelerating influence from an effect that simply occurs afterward; preserves the stricter chemical meaning. Writing functions: Causation / Relationships, Change / Pattern / Trend.
Words that belong together
- catalyze change
- catalyze a debate
- catalyze collaboration
On the page
The closure catalyzed a wider debate about access to public space.
The shared archive catalyzed collaboration between researchers who had previously worked separately.
The enzyme catalyzes the reaction without being consumed in its overall course.
The experiment compares how quickly the reaction proceeds with and without the substance that catalyzes it.
Word forms
- Base
- catalyze
- Past tense
- catalyzed
- Past participle
- catalyzed
- Present participle
- catalyzing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- catalyze
- Present continuous
- am/is/are catalyzing
- Present perfect
- have/has catalyzed
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been catalyzing
- Past
- catalyzed
- Past continuous
- was/were catalyzing
- Past perfect
- had catalyzed
- Past perfect continuous
- had been catalyzing
- Future
- will catalyze
- Future continuous
- will be catalyzing
- Future perfect
- will have catalyzed
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been catalyzing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Transitive verb: catalyze; catalyzes; catalyzed; catalyzed; catalyzing. Future: will catalyze. UK spelling catalyse and its inflections are aliases, not separate entries. Register: academic. Commonness: moderately common in academic writing (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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