[with obj.]cause or accelerate (a reaction) by acting as a catalyst 催化 ■(figurative)cause (an action or process) to begin (喻)促成 the bank was set up to catalyse investment in the former communist countries. 这家银行是为鼓励在前共产主义国家投资而建立的。
语源
late 19th cent.: from catalysis, on the pattern of analyse