raw material

noun

: crude or processed material that can be converted by manufacture, processing, or combination into a new and useful product

wheat … is raw material for the flour mill

—C. A. Koepke

broadly : something with a potential for improvement, development, or elaboration

perplexities are often the raw material of discoveries

—Agnes M. Clerke

Synonyms

• making
• material
• stuff
• substance
• timber

Examples of raw material in a Sentence

His experiences during the war were the raw material for the story.

Recent Examples on the Web

The wages that Boeing pays to its workers make up far less than 10% of its overall cost of producing a plane, with most of the cost going into raw materials and purchases from suppliers who produce everything from avionics to the fuselage of the planes themselves. —Chris Isidore, CNN, 5 Nov. 2024

Both scents arrive with two additional vials: small capsules of the key raw materials in each recipe. —Adam Hurly, Robb Report, 5 Nov. 2024

Using Sustainability Footprint Management, SDX calculates carbon footprints across each product life cycle stage, from raw materials to disposal. —Robert Kramer, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

At the same time, raw material and labor costs accelerated out of the pandemic. —Pippa Stevens, CNBC, 13 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1612, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

raw material

noun

: something from which a useful or desirable product can be manufactured or produced

wheat and rye are the raw materials for a flour mill

collect raw material for writing a story