Definition of "catalyze" [catalyze]

• To modify, especially to increase, the rate of (a chemical reaction) by catalysis. (verb-transitive)
• To bring about; initiate: "The technology bred of science has catalyzed stupendous economic growth” ( Nature). (verb-transitive)
• To produce fundamental change in; transform: changes in student enrollment that have catalyzed the educational system. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "November 21st, 2006 at 1: 03 am bFast, the claim that proteins change the poise of equilibria of chemical reactions they catalyze is wrong."
• "With respect to the ecosystem comment, without getting into specifics of different options and things like that in detail, what I will say is that the word catalyze is to imply that there is a wide variety of participants in our world, and that includes competitors, it includes operators, other technology firms and so forth who in many respects have a common interest relative to the potential strength of other ecosystems and how they may develop over time."
• "Operating out of Brooklyn, N.Y., since Sept. 4, the Web campaign is an attempt to send 100,000 first-time youth voters to the polls for the November election and "catalyze" 250,000 orgasms."