material

Universal Words noun, adjective noun 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. 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).