materialnoun
uk/məˈtɪə.ri.əl/us/məˈtɪr.i.əl/material noun (PHYSICAL SUBSTANCE)
B2 [ C ] a physical substance that things can be made from:
More examples
- The meteorites contained only inorganic material.
- Clay is a very plastic material.
- Uranium is a radioactive material.
- The regular incorporation of organic material into garden soil improves its quality enormously.
- Prices of goods are governed by the cost of the raw materials, as well as by the cost of production and distribution.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Physics: the state of matter
- absorbency
- acid
- acidic
- filtrate
- granulated
- gritty
- heavy water
- limy
- molten
- neutral
- non-flammable
- permeability
- plasma
- powder
- powdered
- pressurized
- runny
- slurry
- sulphur
- thin
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material noun (INFORMATION)
B1 [ C or U ] information used when writing something such as a book, or information produced in various forms to help people or to advertise products:
More examples
- These documents contain classified material.
- The latest promotional material is all part of a recruitment drive.
- All our advertising material is designed in-house.
- I've listed some useful reading material on the handout.
- His latest book is a reworking of material from his previous short stories.
material noun (CLOTH)
B1 [ C or U ] cloth that can be used to make things such as clothes:
More examples
- A lot of sportswear is made of very elastic material.
- She dipped the material into the dye.
- It's a dark grey material but it's flecked with white.
- We could use the rest of the material to make up some curtains.
- I'm trying to match up this wallpaper with some suitable curtain material.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Textiles: general words
- baize
- bias
- brocade
- cloth
- cutpiece
- denier 1
- drapery
- filament
- gauze
- nap
- padding
- pile
- pill
- strand
- swatch
- textile
- the weft
- upholstery
- wadding
- yarn
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material noun (EQUIPMENT)
equipment that you need for a particular activity:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Things needed for a task
- accoutrements
- apparatus
- armory
- armoury
- equipment
- gadget
- gear
- kit
- necessaries
- paraphernalia
- stock-in-trade
- tackle
- thing
- tool
materialadjective
uk/məˈtɪə.ri.əl/us/məˈtɪr.i.əl/material adjective (PHYSICAL)
relating to physical objects or money rather than emotions or the spiritual world:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Physics: the state of matter
- absorbency
- acid
- acidic
- filtrate
- granulated
- gritty
- heavy water
- limy
- molten
- neutral
- non-flammable
- permeability
- plasma
- powder
- powdered
- pressurized
- runny
- slurry
- sulphur
- thin
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material adjective (IMPORTANT)
formal important or having an important effect:
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Very important or urgent
- all-important
- arch
- at all cost(s) idiom
- be a matter of life and/or death idiom
- burning
- chief
- considerable
- critical
- major league
- make the world go around/round idiom
- materially
- minor league
- mission-critical
- prized
- prominent
- radical
- sacred
- salient
- seriously
- substantial
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