natural resource
Americannoun
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natural resources
plural
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a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
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natural resources, the natural wealth of a country, consisting of land, forests, mineral deposits, water, etc.
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Something, such as a forest, a mineral deposit, or fresh water, that is found in nature and is necessary or useful to humans.
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See more at nonrenewable renewable
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of natural resource
First recorded in 1865–70
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They recommend that natural resource agencies focus on prevention, early detection, and control efforts before wild populations become established.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Huang pitched government leaders on treating data as a natural resource and building domestic infrastructure for it.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
Australia's tax code has "generous" provision for energy companies, says Samantha Hepburn, a professor at Deakin University specialising in natural resource law.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
The natural resource became an important bargaining chip in trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, as the U.S. is heavily reliant on China to supply rare earth minerals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
I was simply a material, a natural resource to be used.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
