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Showing results for raw material. Search instead for waste material.
Synonyms

raw material

American  

noun

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


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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

See Examples For:

"But we are actively in discussion with paper manufacturers about how they can produce a raw material in a way that makes it easy to bond."

From BBC Jul. 27, 2026

Studios worried about their intellectual property being misused, and actors feared becoming little more than raw material for AI systems -- and made it a central plank of their strike action in 2023.

From Barron's Jul. 22, 2026

By 2030, the bloc wants to increase domestic production and make sure that no country supplies more than 65% of the EU’s annual strategic raw material needs.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 17, 2026

Companies also cut back on their staffing levels amid concerns over the outlook and in response to rising overheads, notably in terms of raw material prices, the survey said.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 23, 2026

News was the intellectual raw material of the struggle.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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