-antsuff.1. a. Performing, promoting, or causing a specified action: acceptant.b. Being in a specified state or condition: flippant.2. a. One that performs, promotes, or causes a specified action: deodorant.b. One that undergoes a specified action: inhalant.[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin -?ns, -ant-, present participle suff. of verbs in -?re.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-ant suffix forming adjectives, suffix forming nounscausing or performing an action or existing in a certain condition; the agent that performs an action: pleasant; claimant; deodorant; protestant; servant. [from Latin -ant-, ending of present participles of the first conjugation]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014ant (ænt) n. any of numerous hymenopterous insects of the widespread family Formicidae, that live in highly organized colonies containing wingless female workers of various castes, a winged queen, and during the breeding season winged males. Idioms: have ants in one’s pants, Slang. to be impatient or eager to act. [before 1000; Old English ?mette, c. Middle Low German ?mete, ?m(e)te, Old High German ?meiza (?- a-3 + a n. derivative of meizan to beat, cut). compare emmet, mite1] ant- var. of anti- before a vowel or h: antacid; anthelmintic. -ant a suffix joined to verbs, with the general sense ?performing? or ?a person or thing that performs? the action denoted by the verb; often in nouns denoting participants in a formalized activity (applicant; contestant; defendant) or denoting substances that bring about a desired result (coolant; deodorant; lubricant). See also -ent. [