- material
- material ma‧te‧ri‧al [məˈtɪəriəl ǁ -ˈtɪr-] noun [countable usually plural]something you need to make or do something:
• A shortage of building materials compounded escalating costs.
ˌraw maˈterial MANUFACTURINGa substance that is used to make a product:• Crude oil is the basic raw material for styrene.
• They are short of cash to pay for raw materials.
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Ⅰ.material UK US /məˈtɪəriəl/ noun► [C or U] a physical substance that things can be made from: »The cost of labour and materials has risen up to 40% in a short period.
building/construction materials »The buildings also use recycled building materials and consume less water.
traditional/natural/recycled materials »There is increasing demand for products made from recycled materials.
»hazardous/toxic/radioactive material
► [U or plural] printed documents, books, computer programs, etc. that give information, especially ones intended for a particular purpose: publicity/marketing/promotional material »According to their publicity material, the new rates are the lowest in the UK.
teaching/training materials »The video and other training materials were created in-house.
printed/published material »Some people prefer to receive information face-to-face, rather than through published material.
► [U] information used when writing something: »She gave me a lot of useful material for my presentation.
»The journalist had been collecting material for an article on the President.
→ See also BILL OF MATERIALS(Cf. ↑bill of materials), COLLATERAL MATERIAL(Cf. ↑collateral material), DIRECT MATERIALS(Cf. ↑direct materials), RAW MATERIAL(Cf. ↑raw material)Ⅱ.material UK US /məˈtɪəriəl/ adjective [before noun]► relating to physical objects or money: »Increased material wealth is delivered by today's economic system.
»He cares more about job satisfaction than material things.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
