The phrase "to act the agent" means to pretend or portray oneself as someone who represents or carries out actions on behalf of another person or organization. Full definition
Tyrrell has it backwards: rather than the state getting out of the «sacraments business» (which it really isn't in), the Church should simply stop acting an agent of the state in the execution of marriage contracts. (firstthings.com)
Jeffrey Burke Satinover argues in «Psychology and the Abolition of Meaning» (February) that within the Western scientific framework, there is «never any room whatever for freely acting agents.... (firstthings.com)
Most of these products work much like regular shampoo, in which surface acting agents, or surfactants, lift dirt that is carried away by soapsuds. (petbusiness.com)