material
see also GLASS, GOLD/SILVER, METAL, STONE, WOOD
- a substance that can be used for making or doing sth: material (noun C/U)
building/cleaning/painting materials ◎ dress material ◎ strong/tough/coarse/delicate material ◎ solid material ◎ material in liquid form
- material which is made from natural animal or vegetable substances is natural; material which is made by a chemical process is synthetic, man-made, artificial
- material in its natural state is raw
If raw materials continue to become more expensive, the cost of manufactured goods is bound to rise too.
- any material made from cotton, wool, etc which you use for making clothes, curtains, etc: cloth (noun U), fabric (noun C/U)
※ more on cloth and wool CLOTH, WOOL
- material made from the skin of animals, especially cows: leather (noun U)
- a kind of leather which has a soft and smooth surface: suede (noun U)
- a tough, waterproof, elastic material made from the juice of a particular kind of tree, or made artificially: rubber (noun U)
a pair of rubber boots ◎ rubber gloves
※ synthetic materials
- a light, artificial material which does not break easily and is used for making many different sorts of objects: plastic (noun U)
made of plastic ◎ plastic toys ◎ plastic bags
- a synthetic material, often used for clothes, stockings, etc: nylon (noun U)
nylon rope
- a tough, light kind of artificial material often used to make bags for food: polythene (AmE polyethylene)(noun U)
a polythene bag
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