agenta‧gent /ˈeɪdʒənt/ ●●○ S3 W3 noun [countable] 
Our agent in Rio deals with all our Brazilian business.agent for We’re acting as agents for Mr Watson. → estate agent, land agent, real estate agent, travel agent2someone who finds work for actors, musicians etc, or who finds someone to publish a writer’s work: My agent has a new script for me to look at. a literary agent3someone who works for a government or police department, especially in order to get secret information about another country or organization: an intelligence agent an FBI agent an undercover (=secret) agent → secret agent, double agent4 technical a chemical or substance that is used for a particular purpose or that has a particular effect: Soap is a cleansing agent.5someone or something that affects or changes a situationagent for/of change Technological advances are the chief agents of change. → free agent
WORD ORIGINagent
Origin:
1400-1500 Medieval Latin from the present participle of Latin agere ‘to drive, lead, act, move, do’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a book of memoirs written by a retired MI5 agent, Peter Wright
- a travel agent
- He had been a secret agent of the enemy all along.
- My agent sent me to an audition.
- My meeting with the author and his agent did not go well.
- The company is the UK agent for a top Danish furniture maker.
- The firm has an agent in Sydney who deals with the Australian side of the business.
- The licence application must be signed by the applicant or his agent.
- Wray was filmed passing money to an enemy agent.
- And owners note a perceptible increase in door-hangers, fliers and other pleas from agents to put their homes up for sale.
- My agents fixed it for me.
- Not an estate agent, a valuer, a lawyer or a property slump in sight.
- Number 73 was just a doorway between a travel agent and a small grocery store, with three steps leading up to it.
- Residents say they understand that agents have an important job, but they accuse the feds of lies, intimidation and harassment.
- She passed on to our agent the name Raphael, though he paid for it with his life.
- That raises obvious questions about the priorities of federal drug enforcement agents and prosecutors.
- Travel agents often advertise package tours which include a stay at a certain hotel.
THESAURUS
someone whose job is to find out secret information about another country: · Stalin controlled a network of spies.· The film is basically a spy story.
someone who works for a government or police department in order to get secret information about another country or organization: · a secret agent working for MI5· He is the FBI’s best undercover agent (=one who works secretly and pretends to be someone else).
someone who finds out an enemy country’s secrets for their own country but who also gives secrets to the enemy: · a former CIA double agent who also worked for the KGB
someone who works for an organization while secretly giving information to its enemies: · A mole in the government was leaking information to the press.
someone who secretly tells the police about criminal activities, especially for money: · Acting on information from an informer, the police raided the house.
the work that spies do: · He is serving a 20-year prison sentence for espionage.
Longman Language Activatorsomeone who represents a person or a group someone who has been chosen to represent an organization or country: · Japan has refused to send a representative to the talks in Geneva.· John Kohorn is the company's representative in Prague.representative from: · the representative from Belgiumrepresentative of: · We discussed these issues with a senior representative of the company.
a person who officially gives the opinions of an organization, company, government etc: spokesman/spokeswoman for: · A spokesman for the company denied reports that the new drug could cause heart attacks.government/ministry/party etc spokesman/spokeswoman: · A government spokeswoman said the new laws would protect vulnerable children.· Mr Simon Hughes, a company spokesman, spoke to reporters after the meeting.
a word meaning spokesman or spokeswoman , used especially when you do not want to say whether the person is a man or a woman: spokesperson for: · A spokesperson for the company read to waiting reporters from a prepared statement.spokesperson on: · the Labour Party spokesperson on educationgovernment/party/union etc spokesperson: · A government spokesperson has denied the allegations of corruption.
a person or company which represents another person or company in business, financial, or legal matters: · The firm has an agent in Sydney who deals with the Australian side of the business.· The licence application must be signed by the applicant or his agent.agent for: · The company is the UK agent for a top Danish furniture maker.
a person who is sent to another country as an official representative, especially by a government to discuss important matters such as war with another government: · The President met yesterday with an envoy from Pakistan.send an envoy: · Iran agreed to send an envoy to the United Nations for talks on ending the war.· A special envoy was sent to Manila to try and secure the release of the hostages.
someone who is sent to an important meeting by a country or organization in order to represent them by speaking for them and voting for them: · I sat next to the Canadian delegate.delegate to: · The US delegate to the committee announced a grant of $75 million to help third world countries.send a delegate: · Some local branches have refused to send delegates to the national conference.
a person, organization, or newspaper which only gives the opinions of one person or organization and which does not have anything original to say: · In 1917 Stalin became editor of Pravda, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party.· The Chemical Manufacturers Association is the mouthpiece of the American chemicals industry.
someone who spies · He was suspected of having been a spy during the war.· The job of the secret police was to hunt down spies and traitors.
someone working for a government or police department who tries to get secret information about another country or organization: · Wray was filmed passing money to an enemy agent.· a book of memoirs written by a retired MI5 agent, Peter Wrightsecret agent: · He had been a secret agent of the enemy all along.
someone who works inside an organization who gives secret information to someone on the outside, for example a newspaper: · The government suspects there is a mole who is leaking information to the press.· The mole was discovered to be the 25-year-old secretary of the minister.
WORD SETSadmin, nounadministration, nounadministrative, adjectiveadministrator, nounagency, nounagent, nounbalance sheet, nounbazaar, nounbid, nounbid, verbbig business, nounbook value, nounboss, nounbottom line, nounbranch, nouncapacity, nouncapital, nouncapital assets, nouncapital gains, nouncapital goods, nouncapital-intensive, adjectivecapitalist, nouncard, nouncentralize, verbcompetitiveness, nounconsultancy, nouncontract, nouncontract, verbcost-effective, adjectivecoupon, nouncritical path, noundecentralize, verbdeveloper, noundistiller, noundistributor, noundiversify, verbdownsize, verbeconomics, nounenterprise, nounentrepreneur, nounestablishment, nounfashion, nounfly-by-night, adjectivefold, verbfoodstuff, nounform letter, nounfranchise, verbfranchisee, noungazump, verbgearing, noungeneric, adjectiveget, verbhard sell, nounhaute couture, nounhigh season, nounhigh technology, nounhike, nounhike, verbloss, nounlow-tech, adjectivemaximize, verbMD, nounmerchandise, verbmerchandising, nounmerger, nounmiddleman, nounmiller, nounmission statement, nounmom-and-pop, adjectivemoneygrabbing, adjectivemoneymaker, noun-monger, suffixmonopolistic, adjectivemonopoly, nounnet, adjectivenet, verbniche, nounoff-the-peg, adjectiveopening time, nounoperation, nounoperational, adjectiveoperator, nounoption, nounoutlay, nounoutlet, nounoutput, nounoutwork, nounoverhead, nounoverstock, verbpackage, nounpartner, nounpartnership, nounpatent, nounpayola, nounpercentage, nounpiracy, nounpremium, nounprivate practice, nounprivatization, nounprivatize, verbprofitability, nounproprietor, nounproprietress, nounpurchase price, nounpurchasing power, nounquiet, adjectiveR & D, nounrate of return, nounrecall, verbreject, nounrep, nounresearch and development, nounrestrictive practices, nounrevenue, nounsell, verbservice industry, nounsleeping partner, nounspeculate, verbspeculation, nounspeculative, adjectivestreet value, nounsubtotal, nounswap meet, nounsweatshop, nounsyndicate, nounsystems analyst, nountake, nountender, nountie-up, nounTM, transact, verbtransaction, nounturnover, nounundersell, verbuneconomic, adjectiveunit, noununprofitable, adjectivevideo conferencing, nounwatchdog, nounwheeler-dealer, nounwheeling and dealing, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We’re acting as agents for Mr Watson. a literary agent an intelligence agent an undercover (=secret)agent Technological advances are the chief agents of change.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a Danish shipping company a shipping route undercover detectivesCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
1a person or company that represents another person or company, especially in business: We’re acting as agents for Mr Watson. a literary agent an intelligence agent an undercover (=secret)agent Technological advances are the chief agents of change. (=one that arranges lettings)
(=a police officer who deals with the problems of narcotics)
a Danish shipping company a shipping route undercover detectives· A double agent is, therefore, well placed to achieve this.
· The cult has been barricaded in a block of buildings since a shootout with federal agents on 28 February.· Associated Press photographers saw six federal agents carrying a struggling, heavyset man on to the plane.· Four federal agents and perhaps up to 15 cult members died.· The plane crash involves Dave with drug dealers, killers and federal agents, all of whom threaten his peace and family.· Pepper still is being sought by federal law-enforcement agents.· When critical habitat is designated, it does not mean federal agents in unmarked helicopters start circling private property.· The bill also would give federal agents authority to obtain wiretaps to detect smuggling and document-fraud crimes.· He now claims federal agents ruined his business and reputation.
· Charnley is now a free agent.· Helping keep the picture cloudy is Gretzky, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after the season.· Disheartened, she gathered her things together, locked the door behind her and drove home. Free agent, indeed!· This year especially, with 11 free agents in camp, the 49ers needed all the practice time they could get.· Are individuals free agents who shape the social world according to their wills?· Bagwell's value on the free-agent market will be established when he actually becomes a free agent.· Burnett, a nine-year veteran, recently agreed to a free-agent deal in principle with the Carolina Cobras.· Still, it's nowhere near what he would command on the free-agent market.
· The crowded conditions they lived in were ideal for passing on an infectious agent.· Immediate priorities should include improving facilities to deal with infectious agents that require high level microbiological safety precautions. iii.· It seems unlikely to be an infectious agent that is causing the problem as only Koi and Orfe are affected.· Better understanding of animal reservoirs and vectors of infectious agents is important in anticipating and controlling emerging infections.· Whereas blood recipients can easily receive infectious agents, passing them on is difficult.· Estimated costs for some infectious agents are equally staggering.
· Quitting after a fracas he had gone to work as a literary agent and had prospered.· Her family, besieged by calls, retained New York literary agent Laurie Liss.· John Pawsey describes a week in the life of a literary agent.· Nina, the literary agent, was on her way to London on business.· I gave the novel to the literary agent Curtis Brown to negotiate with a publisher.· Loretta Barrett, our literary agent, was a successful editor at a major publishing company.· I therefore contacted a literary agent, Al Zuckerman, who had been introduced to me as the brother-in-law of a colleague.· Simple start All seemed relatively simple at the start, recalls literary agent Alexandra Cann.
· This has allowed the company to develop sales through local agents.· For more information about any of these cruises, contact a local travel agent.· The local agents provide an extensive catalogue of programs available at a nominal charge.· Assistance of our resort representative or local agent.· Tumours arising within the stomach may be in direct contact with local agents, capable of increasing their proliferation.· Some conveyancers encourage local estate agents to forward details of a new transaction before a sale is negotiated.· So, pack your cycle clips and either pick up a brochure from your local travel agent or call us on freephone.· Consult and compare at your local travel agent.
· Some other agent of change was needed.· He showed the same scant respect for other agents of central power.· Like other enforcement agents, the field man is gatekeeper to the apparatus of control.· Discussion Similar results to those shown in the example were achieved for the other estate agents sentences tested using this simple analyser.· A variety of other agents have shown specific, useful activities, with a fairly limited range of application.· Quite apart from enhancing its reputation, it also reassures other agents that they will not be forgotten.· No other concomitant infective agents have been implicated in the course of the disease to date.
· It will Bteach real estate agents about the customs of minority groups.· Homeowners who want to sell their homes without a real estate agent can now advertise their residential properties free on the Internet.· The dictionary prompted real estate consultant Joel Ascetto to design a three-hour course to help Rhode Island real estate agents.· The real estate agent said one thing.· Those figures are similar to figures given by real estate agents for several plots in town.
· He had spent the afternoon teaching Sun Tzu to his senior officers: the final chapter on the employment of secret agents.· The Secret Service agents seem to like it too.· It was not every night, she reflected, that she dined with a secret agent.· They say that the better the secret agent, the less one hears about him.· Even the bureaucrats involved took to playing games and devising ruses, for all the world like secret agents themselves.· The Secret Service agents adored him, and all kidnap and other threats were investigated with a vengeance.· The secret agent in his place, he wrote, the infiltrator safely ensconced.· A Secret Service agent rushed forward.
· But Rakovsky kept one or two special agents under his control.· It was only partly the men he had out on the streets and in the bazaars, the special agents like Georgiades.· Among his inventions were flexible saws hidden in shoe laces for special agents.· Their Active Mouthguard is a refreshing mouthwash with a special anti-bacterial agent to fight plaque plus it contains fluoride to strengthen teeth.
· The Fedpol had undercover agents there, naturally, but no official presence.· Michael Osborne told investigators that drugs were so prevalent at Cyberzone that undercover agents needed help from fellow deputies working off-duty.· He's an undercover sabotage agent if ever there was one.· I want to apply to become an undercover agent.· In the guise of travelling labourers they were sent to Wokingham Fair as undercover agents.· The informant showed gun crates marked with the names of Norinco and Poly Technologies to an undercover agent.· Normally, however, he was resident in London, operating as an undercover agent there.
NOUN· How many heads actively support their staff in becoming change agents?· Change Agents - professional and para-professional workers in the change agent system; 2.
· As the dozens of guests arrived at Macbeth's restaurant in Tampa, they were greeted and arrested by customs agents.· Other Customs agents have put corruption in the crosshairs only to find they were firing blanks.· Also patron of accountants, bankers, customs agents, and security guards.· In January 1993, Zimmermann was contacted by two customs agents.
· Like other enforcement agents, the field man is gatekeeper to the apparatus of control.· Law enforcement agents and reporters were standing within feet of the trash bin where the second blast occurred.· How strict or lenient enforcement agents conceive them to be may well affect their enforcement behaviour.· After the material was delivered, law enforcement agents obtained search warrants and arrested the customers.· The enforcement agent in a compliance system has a wide variety of roles to fulfil.· That raises obvious questions about the priorities of federal drug enforcement agents and prosecutors.· In short, he becomes more credible as a negotiator and as an enforcement agent.· Like other enforcement agents they adapt by employing protective strategies.
· Not an estate agent, a valuer, a lawyer or a property slump in sight.· Herndon, a successful Rancho Bernardo real estate agent, works 12 hours a day.· The crucial choice of an estate agent raises the question of whether one is necessary at all.· Your estate agent will negotiate with potential buyers, keeping you informed of offers and how the sale is progressing.· Because of the timescale the estate agents being paid up to £10.95 for each house valued are thought to be rushing the work.· What becomes of it now? Estate agents think it will be a very tasty morsel for an international company.
· If in doubt, ask your insurance agent - and read your policy before disaster strikes.· Mechanics were needed to keep them running, gas stations to fuel them, insurance agents to insure themthe list is endless.· The next afternoon the insurance agent appeared in the office, carrying a bottle of homemade wine.· The list can be prepared by hand, using your own notebook or a booklet available free from many insurance agents.· The defendants, a life assurance company employed the plaintiff as an insurance agent.· He pored over hospital bills and questioned the insurance agent about items that seemed too high.· Robertson, above, also concerned an insurance agent, but there was no such obligation.· Jones for everything else since her March 23 marriage to Michael Jones, a Phoenix-area insurance agent.
· After working in the prison service, he joined the defence forces before becoming an intelligence agent.
· If you believe all that some land agents tell you, you might think it would go on for ever.· The council has only ten land agents and they must formulate management agreements for any of the 3800 SSSIs in Britain.· In two of them the outcome was in fact chosen by the patron - the broker land agents.· His father was a land agent who ran an estate in East Anglia belonging to John Bradford's brother.· He'd committed adultery with the wife of the local steward - the land agent for the lord of the manor.· In 1925 he married Lettice, daughter of Cecil Cantley Baker, a land agent.· In 1765 he married Ann Sherwin, daughter of the land agent at Kedleston Hall.· The services of a land agent experienced in mineral agreements may be advisable if large scale exploration is envisaged.
· Border Patrol agents in Nogales say they have been shot at 21 times in the past 15 months.· Border Patrol agent at a sandwich shop on Highway 11, shortly after he dropped the men off.· Detecting suspicious activity in the community is where the bike patrol agents come in handy.· Border Patrol agents and Roseau police moved in on them.· Earlier, it had been one or more a day, Border Patrol agents say.· Standing firm Only in recent years have Border Patrol agents perched themselves so close to the border.· Border Patrol agents there stopped northbound cars and trucks to search for illegal aliens and drugs.
· Repression, Government spies and agents provocateur were the order of the day.· In Belfast, where five civilians died from violence, there was considerable evidence of agents provocateur.
· The two, who have pleaded not guilty, deny working as secret service agents.· The Secret Service agents seem to like it too.· Despite everything, Firecracker was fond of his Secret Service agents.· The Secret Service agents adored him, and all kidnap and other threats were investigated with a vengeance.· A Secret Service agent rushed forward.· A Secret Service agent blocked his way.
· Most of them employed the services of travel agents, according to Zakhariev.· For more information about any of these cruises, contact a local travel agent.· So, pack your cycle clips and either pick up a brochure from your local travel agent or call us on freephone.· Delta, for instance, is providing refund forms at ticket counters and through travel agents.· Pat, 43, turns travel agent once a year to take a vote among neighbours where they want to go.· It can be done, if you, or your travel agent, are willing to bend airline rules.· However, most travel agents do not deal directly with these companies.· A: It makes sense to patronize a travel agent.
VERB· She was able to act as a reconciling agent in a way no one could ever have foreseen.· Q.. Are you acting as an agent for another?· Hunters might seek to kill them, but they are quite capable of turning the tables and acting out the agent role.· The gorge was his theater and the railways were delighted to act as his agents.· Marketing itself tends to be a more specialist operation organised through trading companies who act as agents for manufacturers.· The ethylene gas produced by the apple acts as a ripening agent for the persimmons.· But he was prepared to act as Guntram's agent in his dealings with bishop Theodore of Marseilles.· He acts as their advance agent, too, he picks out the banks they are to rob.
· They can even become unknowing agents of propaganda.· Knowledge was becoming a bonding agent.· This, and similar organisations, may well become agents of environmental change in the not too distant future.· Bagwell's value on the free-agent market will be established when he actually becomes a free agent.· This implies a corresponding commitment by the training institutions to prepare the student to become an agent of change. 6.· The Dolphins are $ 4 million under the cap but also have 17 players set to become unrestricted free agents.· So unless we become the agents of our own destruction, we have hardly begun our allotted span on Earth.· Each traveling employee becomes an independent security agent.
Our agent in Rio deals with all our Brazilian business.agent for We’re acting as agents for Mr Watson. → estate agent, land agent, real estate agent, travel agent2someone who finds work for actors, musicians etc, or who finds someone to publish a writer’s work: My agent has a new script for me to look at. a literary agent3someone who works for a government or police department, especially in order to get secret information about another country or organization: an intelligence agent an FBI agent an undercover (=secret) agent → secret agent, double agent4 technical a chemical or substance that is used for a particular purpose or that has a particular effect: Soap is a cleansing agent.5someone or something that affects or changes a situationagent for/of change Technological advances are the chief agents of change. → free agent