a ‧ gent S3 W2 /ˈeɪdʒ ə nt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Language: Medieval Latin ; Origin: from the present participle of Latin agere 'to drive, lead, act, move, do' ]
1 . a person or company that represents another person or company, especially in business:
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 agent
2 . someone 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 agent
3 . someone 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 agent
4 . technical a chemical or substance that is used for a particular purpose or that has a particular effect:
Soap is a cleansing agent.
5 . someone or something that affects or changes a situation
agent for/of change
Technological advances are the chief agents of change.
⇨ ↑ free agent