accelerant

noun

1. Any substance that can bond or mix with, or disturb, another substance and cause an increase in the speed of a natural or artificial chemical process.

   “Accelerant was poured across the beds where the two daughters of a family in Cheshire, Conn., had been tied before a fire during a home invasion in 2007, a fire investigator told jurors on Friday.”

2. Any substance that can bond or mix with, or disturb, another substance and cause an increase in the speed of a natural or artificial chemical process.
3. (figuratively)Something that speeds up a process or the uptake of something else.

   “Hello Neighbor’s experience reflects the rise of video sites like YouTube as an accelerant for the video game business.”

   “[Mike] Skinner can be credited with pouring lots of accelerant on pop in his time. In his absence, Caribbean-derived UK bass music became the de facto sound of British youth.”

   “But the brutal killing did not capture widespread attention until the security footage was released on Friday, at which point it became an accelerant for conservative arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets in the Trump era.”

adj

1. Causing acceleration or speeding up; accelerating.