raw material

American  

noun

1. material before being processed or manufactured into a final form.

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raw material British  

noun

1. material on which a particular manufacturing process is carried out

2. a person or thing regarded as suitable for some particular purpose

   raw material for the army

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Etymology

Origin of raw material

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

The problem for data geeks like Savouri, however, and for investors, is the increasingly unreliable raw material that governments are providing them.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 2026

Reputedly, he destroyed hundreds of his own negatives, and the celluloid was melted down -- and some of it used as raw material to make soldiers' boots during World War I.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

Plastic makers in Asia and Europe curbed their own output when Persian Gulf crude oil, the raw material they rely upon, became inaccessible.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 5, 2026

Fuel and raw material shortages, chronic underinvestment and nationalisations have hollowed out the local economy.

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Finally, the hereditary changes called mutations provide the raw material for evolution.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan