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.
They could more readily imagine the bean becoming cattle feed or an industrial raw material – which is exactly how its use evolved, at first.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Condimentum, based at the Food Enterprise Park in Easton, near Norwich, had been keeping Colman's Norwich legacy alive by producing the raw material for the brand.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
And in Germany, steel giant Thyssenkrupp warned that record-low levels on the Rhine were threatening raw material deliveries, echoing industry warnings that the waterway could soon become unnavigable.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Researchers need the raw material to build on.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
A never-ending line of carts brought the raw material in—thousands of skins, goat, calf, lizard and snake skins—and took them away again tanned, dyed and finished.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
