INFECTIVE AGENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does infective agent mean? 

• INFECTIVE AGENT (noun)
  The noun INFECTIVE AGENT has 1 sense:

1. an agent capable of producing infection

  Familiarity information: INFECTIVE AGENT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INFECTIVE AGENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An agent capable of producing infection

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

infectious agent; infective agent

Hypernyms ("infective agent" is a kind of...):

agent (an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "infective agent"):

virus ((virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein)

pathogen (any disease-producing agent (especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism))

 Context examples 

Activated by bacterial flavoproteins to intermediates that inactivate bacterial ribosomal proteins, Nitrofurantoin is used prophylactically as a urinary anti-infective agent against most gram-positive and gram-negative organisms and for long-term suppression of infections.

(Nitrofurantoin, NCI Thesaurus)

An organoarsenic compound with activity as an anti-infective agent.

(Arsanilic Acid, NCI Thesaurus)