raw

[[t]rɔ͟ː[/t]]

♦♦♦

rawer, rawest

1) ADJ: usu ADJ n Raw materials or substances are in their natural state before being processed or used in manufacturing.

We import raw materials and energy and export mainly industrial products.

...two ships carrying raw sugar from Cuba.

2) ADJ Raw food is food that is eaten uncooked, that has not yet been cooked, or that has not been cooked enough.

...a popular dish made of raw fish...

This versatile vegetable can be eaten raw or cooked...

Half of it is burned and half of it is raw.

Ant:

cooked

3) ADJ-GRADED If a part of your body is raw, it is red and painful, perhaps because the skin has come off or has been burnt.

...the drag of the rope against the raw flesh of my shoulders...

Her feet hurt and her hands were rubbed raw from unaccustomed work.

4) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n Raw emotions are strong basic feelings or responses which are not weakened by other influences.

...the raw passions of nationalism...

Her grief was still raw and he did not know how to help her.

Derived words:

rawness N-SING

The rawness of his greed was frank and uninhibited.

5) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe something as raw, you mean that it is simple, powerful, and real.

...the raw power of instinct.

...the raw vitality of his earlier painting.

Derived words:

rawness N-UNCOUNT

Recorded almost live, there's a certain seductive rawness about the whole thing.

6) ADJ: usu ADJ n Raw data is facts or information that has not yet been sorted, analysed, or prepared for use.

Analyses were conducted on the raw data.

...a statistical model that fully adjusts the census's raw figures.

7) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe someone in a new job as raw, or as a raw recruit, you mean that they lack experience in that job.

...replacing experienced men with raw recruits...

Davies is still raw but his potential shows.

Syn:

inexperienced

Ant:

experienced

8) ADJ-GRADED Raw weather feels unpleasantly cold.

Once they cleared the housetops, the wind was raw and biting.

...a raw December morning.

Syn:

bitter

9) ADJ: ADJ n Raw sewage is sewage that has not been treated to make it cleaner.

...contamination of bathing water by raw sewage.

Syn:

untreated

Ant:

treated

10) PHRASE: v PHR If you say that you are getting a raw deal, you mean that you are being treated unfairly. [INFORMAL]

They feel that Quebec is getting a raw deal...

I think women have a raw deal.

Ant:

a fair deal

11) PHRASE: n PHR You use in the raw to describe something that is in its true state, and has not been made civilized or respectable.

This is nature in the raw...

He also wanted to see Bangladesh in the raw...

It exposes capitalism in the raw.

12) to touch a raw nerve → see nerve