I. -s ə nt adjective
: causing depression : tending to depress: as
a. : making unhappy : dispiriting
a fatal accident always has a depressant effect on a crowd — Ken Purdy
b. : creating economic depression
other government policies were depressant — R.C.Leffingwell
c. : lowering or tending to lower functional or vital activity
a drug with a depressant effect on heart rate
II. noun
( -s )
: something that depresses: as
a. : a reagent (as cyanide) that depresses in ore flotation
b. : an agent that causes the lessening or depressing of some specified property
pour-point depressant
foam depressant
perspiration depressant
c. : an agent that reduces exaggerated functional activity (as irritability or spasm) of tissues
a depressant of intestinal spasm