agent
an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,972 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 5,503 times across 175,173 chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect their research uncovered new disease agents
- a representative who acts on behalf of other persons or organizations
- a substance that exerts some force or effect
- a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission also: factor, broker
- any agent or representative of a federal agency or bureau also: federal agent
- the semantic role of the animate entity that instigates or causes the happening denoted by the verb in the clause also: agentive role
agent in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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The agent of Romance and Adventure handed his card, laughing.
The Club of Queer Trades · G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton · Chapter 1
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So I asked the agent to tell me something about it.
The Shadow over Innsmouth · H.P. Lovecraft · Chapter 1
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While I was talking to the station agent I had my one piece of luck.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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It began: “The lecture agent for Australia and New Zealand is par excellence Mr. R. S. Smythe, of Melbourne.”
How to Tell a Story, and Other Essays · Mark Twain · Chapter 1
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Down the platform was the new freight agent, a thickset, rubber-shod individual with a projecting lower jaw and a lowering countenance.
The City of Fire · Grace Livingston Hill · Chapter 1