English > stuff: 14 senses > noun 1, substance| Meaning | The tangible / tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object. |
|---|
| Example | "wheat is the stuff they use to make bread" |
|---|
| Synonym | material |
|---|
| Narrower | HAZMAT | An abbreviation for 'hazardous material' used on warning signs |
|---|
| abrasive, abradant, abrasive material | A substance that abrades or wears down |
| adhesive material, adhesive agent, adhesive | A substance that unites or bonds surfaces together |
| aggregate | Material such as sand or gravel used with cement and water to make concrete, mortar, or plaster |
| ammunition | Any nuclear or chemical or biological material that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction |
| animal material | material derived from animals |
| atom, molecule, particle, corpuscle, mote, speck | (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything |
| ballast | Any heavy material used to stabilize a ship or airship |
| bedding material, bedding, litter | material used to provide a bed for animals |
| bimetal | material made by bonding together sheets of two different metals |
| builder, detergent builder | A substance added to soaps or detergents to increase their cleansing action |
| chemical, chemical substance | Material produced by or used in a reaction involving changes in atoms or molecules |
| coloring material, colouring material, color, colour | Any material used for its color |
| composite material | Strong lightweight material developed in the laboratory |
| conductor | A substance that readily conducts e.g. electricity and heat |
| contaminant, contamination | A substance that contaminates |
| detritus | Loose material (stone fragments and silt etc) that is worn away from rocks |
| diamagnet | A substance that exhibits diamagnetism |
| discharge, emission | A substance that is emitted / emitted or released |
| dust | Free microscopic particles of solid material |
| earth, ground | The loose soft material that makes up a large part of the land surface |
| elastomer | Any of various elastic materials that resemble rubber (resumes its original shape when a deforming force is removed) |
| fiber, fibre | A slender and greatly elongated substance capable of being spun into yarn |
| filling, fill | Any material that fills a space or container |
| floccule, floc | A small loosely aggregated mass of flocculent material suspended in or precipitated from a liquid / liquid |
| fluff | Any light downy material |
| foam | A lightweight material in cellular form |
| homogenate | material that has been homogenized (especially tissue that has been ground and mixed) |
| humate | material that is high in humic acids |
| impregnation | material with which something is impregnated |
| insulator, dielectric, nonconductor | A material such as glass or porcelain with negligible electrical or thermal conductivity |
| mineral | Solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition |
| packing material, packing, wadding | Any material used especially to protect something |
| paper | A material made of cellulose pulp derived mainly from wood or rags or certain grasses |
| particulate, particulate matter | A small discrete mass of solid or liquid matter that remains individually dispersed in gas or liquid emissions (usually considered to be an atmospheric pollutant) |
| plant material, plant substance | material derived from plants |
| precursor | A substance from which another substance is formed (especially by a metabolic reaction) |
| radioactive material | material that is radioactive |
| raw material, staple | material suitable for manufacture or use or finishing |
| recycling | Used or abandoned materials for use in creating new products |
| rind | The natural outer covering of food (usually removed before eating) |
| rock, stone | material consisting of the aggregate of minerals like those making up the Earth's crust |
| sealing material | Any substance used to seal joints or fill cracks / cracks in a porous surface |
| sorbate | A material that has been or is capable of being taken up by another substance by either absorption or adsorption |
| sorbent, sorbent material | A material that sorbs another substance |
| thickening, thickener | Any material used to thicken / thicken |
| toner | A black or colored powder used in a printer to develop a xerographic image |
| transparent substance, translucent substance | A material having the property of admitting light diffusely |
| undercut | The material removed by a cut made underneath |
| vernix, vernix caseosa | A white cheeselike protective material that covers the skin of a fetus |
| wad | A small mass of soft material |
| waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product | Any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted |
| Broader | substance | The real physical matter of which a person or thing consists |
|---|
| Spanish | cosa, cosas, material, materia |
|---|
| Catalan | material, matèria |
|---|
