1 [U,C] cloth used for making clothes, curtains, etc.
SYNFABRIC:
a piece of material * 'What material is this dress made of?' 'Cotton.'
2 [C,U] a substance that things can be made from:
building materials (= bricks, sand, glass, etc.) * Oil is the raw material for plastic.
3 [C,usually pl.,U] things that are needed in order to do a particular activity:
teaching materials * The company produces its own training material. * (figurative) The teacher saw her as good university material (= good enough to go to university).
4 [U] information or ideas used in books, etc:
She's collecting material for her latest novel.
5 [U] items used in a performance:
The band played all new material at the gig.
词性: adjective
1 [onlybeforenoun] connected with money, possessions, etc. rather than with the needs of the mind or spirit:
material comforts * changes in your material circumstances
OPPSPIRITUAL
2 [onlybeforenoun] connected with the physical world rather than with the mind or spirit:
the material world
OPPIMMATERIAL
3 ~ (to sth) (formal or law) important and needing to be considered:
material evidence * She omitted information that was material to the case.
seealsoIMMATERIAL
materially adverb:
Materially they are no better off. * Their comments have not materially affected our plans (= in a noticeable or important way).
