raw material

Noun

raw material (countable and uncountable, plural raw materials)

1. A material in its unprocessed, natural state considered usable for manufacture.
   • Petroleum is the raw material refined into various fuels and needed for countless chemicals.
   • The three main firms […] are increasing their output capacity and it is estimated that by 1964-5 railborne traffic will be about a third greater than the 1960 figure, reaching a total of something like 13½ million tons per annum, of which some 70 per cent will be inwards raw materials for these...1962 October, “Talking of Trains: New yard at Scunthorpe”, in Modern Railways, page 221
2. (figuratively) Any physical product serving as input to a factory or other installation which processes it.
   • The assembly plant's raw materials are finished parts from Asian suppliers.
   • Teams will place all their unassembled raw materials and tools in the competition area along with two provided 5-gallon buckets of contaminated water and two provided stirring sticks.2024 October, “Water Treatment Competition”, in ASCE, page 11