raw material
Americannoun
noun
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material on which a particular manufacturing process is carried out
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a person or thing regarded as suitable for some particular purpose
raw material for the army
Etymology
Origin of raw material
First recorded in 1790–1800
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.
Because gas is the raw material needed to make new stars, such outflows could significantly reduce future star formation.
From Science Daily • Jun. 19, 2026
At the same time, it cautioned that cost inflation is trending upwards, with the CFO saying the company was starting to see an impact on raw material costs from the Middle East conflict.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026
"Our raw material, our gold, our copper, goes to other countries... we are experiencing misery."
From BBC • Jun. 6, 2026
On Tuesday, Israel's state comptroller released a scathing report accusing successive governments of neglecting domestic weapons production and failing to maintain critical raw material reserves.
From Barron's • May 16, 2026
If tritium was the sought-after product, for example, you used lithium-6; if it was plutonium, the raw material would be uranium—namely, that waste U-238.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
