Agonist
a person engaged in a contest, conflict, struggle, etc., especially the protagonist in a literary work.
a person who is torn by inner conflict.
Physiology. a contracting muscle whose action is opposed by another muscle.
Compare (def 3).
Pharmacology. a chemical substance capable of activating a receptor to induce a full or partial pharmacological response.
Compare (def 5).
Historical Examples
agonist, ag′o-nist, n. one who contends for a prize in public games.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) Various
noun
any muscle that is opposed in action by another muscle Compare antagonist (sense 2)
a competitor, as in an agon
n.
1876, in writings on Greek drama, from Greek agonistes, literally “combatant in the games” (see agony).
agonist ag·o·nist (āg’ə-nĭst)
n.
A contracting muscle that is resisted or counteracted by an antagonistic muscle.
A substance that can combine with a cell receptor to produce a reaction typical for that substance.
agonist
(āg’ə-nĭst)
A muscle that actively contracts to produce a desired movement.
A chemical substance, especially a drug, that can combine with a receptor on a cell to produce a physiologic response. Compare antagonist.
Read Also:
- Agonistic
combative; striving to overcome in argument. straining for effect: agonistic humor. of or relating to ancient Greek athletic contests. Ethology. pertaining to the range of activities associated with aggressive encounters between members of the same species, including threat, attack, appeasement, or retreat. Historical Examples Moreover, most of the burrows were only a few feet apart […]
- Agonized
involving or accompanied by or severe struggle: an agonized effort. to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in . to put forth great effort of any kind. to distress with extreme pain; torture. Contemporary Examples As President Barack Obama plays an agonized Hamlet over Afghanistan, the ice is cracking beneath his feet on Capitol Hill. […]
- Agonizing
accompanied by, filled with, or resulting in or distress: We spent an agonizing hour waiting to hear if the accident had been serious or not. to suffer extreme pain or anguish; be in . to put forth great effort of any kind. to distress with extreme pain; torture. Contemporary Examples And so a writer of […]
- Agonizingly
accompanied by, filled with, or resulting in or distress: We spent an agonizing hour waiting to hear if the accident had been serious or not. Contemporary Examples Heartsick, depressed, agonizingly lonely, she would disappear for days behind her locked bedroom doors. New Questions Arise About Mary Richardson Kennedy’s Suicide Nancy Collins May 15, 2013 The […]
- Agony column
a section or column in a newspaper containing advertisements by individuals seeking missing relatives or lost pets or possessions, announcing the end of a marriage, etc. Contemporary Examples Reynolds wrote an agony column, “Susan Chester Heart-to-Heart Letters,” for the Brooklyn Eagle. American Dreams, 1933: Miss Lonelyhearts by Nathanael West Nathaniel Rich April 28, 2013 Historical […]