precipitant
part of speech
noun (a precipitant, precipitants); adjective (precipitant — formal, rare)
meaning for a pupil
1) (science) A substance that you add to a liquid to make a solid form and come out of it (a precipitate). tree →
2) (formal) Something that causes an event to happen suddenly, a trigger: «Stress was the precipitant of the argument.» tree →
3) (formal, rare adjective) Done too quickly, without thinking; rushed. tree →
sense in the lessons
In chemistry lessons a precipitant is added to a solution so cloudy solid bits appear. In medicine and formal writing it means the trigger of something. In stories it is rare. Phrases: «add a precipitant», «the precipitant of», «a precipitant decision» (rare).
examples
- The teacher added a precipitant and the clear liquid went cloudy. tree →
- Salt can act as a precipitant in some experiments. tree →
- The heavy rain was the precipitant of the landslide. tree →
- Doctors looked for the precipitant of her asthma attack. tree →
- His precipitant decision to quit surprised everyone. tree →
- A precipitant makes the solid «fall out» of the solution. tree →
note
Countable noun: a precipitant, precipitants. Related words: precipitate (the solid that forms; also to cause suddenly), precipitation (rain, snow and hail, or forming a solid). Easily confused with «precipitate»; the precipitant is what you add, the precipitate is what forms.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «precipitant» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.