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raw

Syllabification: (raw)
Pronunciation: /rô/
Translate raw | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of raw

adjective

  • 1(of food) uncooked:raw eggs salsify can be eaten raw in salads or cooked
  • (of a material or substance) in its natural state; not yet processed or purified:raw silk raw sewage
  • (of information) not analyzed, evaluated, or processed for use:there were a number of errors in the raw data
  • (of the edge of a piece of cloth) not having a hem or selvage.
  • (of a person) new to an activity or job and therefore lacking experience or skill:they were replaced by raw recruits
  • 2(of a part of the body) red and painful, especially as the result of skin abrasion:he scrubbed his hands until they were raw figurativeFran’s nerves were raw
  • 3(of the weather) bleak, cold, and damp:a raw February night
  • 4(of an emotion or quality) strong and undisguised:he exuded an air of raw, vibrant masculinity
  • frank and realistic in the depiction of unpleasant facts or situations:a raw, uncompromising portrait
  • US informal (of language) coarse or crude, typically in relation to sexual matters.

Phrases

in the raw

  • 1in its true state; not made to seem better or more palatable than it actually is:he didn’t much care for nature in the raw
  • 2 informal (of a person) naked:I slept in the raw

Derivatives

rawly

adverb

rawness

noun

Origin:

Old English hrēaw, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch rauw and German roh, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek kreas 'raw flesh'

raw in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of raw in the British & World English dictionary