n. 1 substance, matter, stuff, fabric It is hard to tell what material this is made of 2 cloth, fabric, textile, stuff This material is too sheer for a dress 3 constituents, elements, components We import the raw materials and make the finished product here 4 information, data, facts, statistics, figures, documents, documentation, papers, notes, resources, means, research, apparatus, supplies I have not yet gathered enough material for the article
adj. 5 physical, tangible, concrete, solid, real, substantive, substantial, palpable, corporeal, bodily It was many years before scientists could persuade people that air is a material substance 6 consequential, important, significant, serious, substantial How could one horseshoe nail be material in the outcome of a battle? 7 worldly, earthly, mundane, temporal, non-spiritual, secular, lay, materialistic: He ponders the abstract, not the base, material things of everyday life