the aggregate of things used or needed in any business, undertaking, or operation (distinguished from personnel).
Military. arms, ammunition, and equipment in general.
From French, dating back to 1805–15; see origin at material
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, he said, “I am very confident that we have delivered the matériel that they need and we’ll continue a pipeline to sustain their operations as well.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
In other cases, they said, other buyers — including other allied countries — have snatched up the matériel before they could close the deal.
From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2023
Japan had lost more than 30,000 of its most experienced ground troops and fliers, and a heavy toll in ships, planes and irreplaceable matériel.
From New York Times ● Nov. 13, 2022
Japan, which has forsworn combat since the end of World War II, had not sent military matériel to another country in the midst of fighting a war in more than 75 years.
From New York Times ● Apr. 11, 2022
His list of matériel liberated from the Union Army during the 1862 Shenandoah campaign included “six handkerchiefs, two and three quarter dozen neckties, and one bottle of red ink.”
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
Earlier this year, Somalia — whose seaports, airports and military bases have been used for Emirati materiel transfers, investigators say — severed bilateral agreements with the UAE.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
In the first few weeks of the war we have seen how Iran has managed its tactical and materiel inferiority to some effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026
Some EU countries wanted to use the programme to finance the purchase of materiel from outside the bloc, notably from the United States.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
Even the underground bunkers in which the materiel was stored may not have been totally destroyed.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2025
In an effort to stop Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt imposed ever-increasing embargoes on materiel, such as scrap metal and aviation fuel.
From "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
