Oxford Dictionary English

    agent

    noun
    noun
    BrE BrE//ˈeɪdʒənt//
    ; NAmE NAmE//ˈeɪdʒənt//
    Business people, Film people, Job titles, People in theatre
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  1. 1 a person whose job is to act for, or manage the affairs of, other people in business, politics, etc. an insurance agent Our agent in New York deals with all US sales. If you're going to rent out your house while you're abroad, you'll need someone to act as your agent here. Wordfinderbusinessmanaccountant, agent, auditor, businessman, CEO, chairman, consultant, entrepreneur, executive, managercompany see also estate agent, land agent, travel agentagent See related entries: Business people, Job titles
  2. 2 a person whose job is to arrange work for an actor, musician, sports player, etc. or to find somebody who will publish a writer’s work a theatrical/literary agent see also press agentagent See related entries: Film people, People in theatre
  3. 3= secret agent an enemy agent see also double agent, special agentagent
  4. 4(formal) a person or thing that has an important effect on a situation The charity has been an agent for social change.agent
  5. 5(specialist) a chemical or a substance that produces an effect or a change or is used for a particular purpose cleaning/oxidizing agents
  6. 6(grammar) the person or thing that does an action (expressed as the subject of an active verb, or in a ‘by’ phrase with a passive verb) compare patient
    7. see also free agent     Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘someone or something that produces an effect’): from Latin agent- ‘doing’, from agere.Extra examples I have an agent who deals with all my contracts. I told him I couldn’t stop him and that he was a free agent. If you want to get published, get yourself an agent! She got the work through an agent. The charity is an agent for social change. The company has developed sales through local agents in key markets. They were advised by the real estate agent that their house would not be saleable. an agent for a shipping company He was convicted of acting as an agent for the Soviet Union. He would have made a good secret agent —a James Bond type. She was operating as an undercover agent in London.
See agent in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishSee agent in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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