raw — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. (of food) Not cooked.

   Examples

   There's nothing but raw fish in the freezer.

   He ate raw beef for dinner.

   More examples (1)

   A flying fish is excellent to eat raw and I would not have to cut him up.

2. (of food) Not cooked. Subsisting on, or pertaining to, a diet of raw food.

   Examples

   I was 100% raw from 2014 until early 2018.

3. Not treated or processed; in a natural state, unrefined, unprocessed. (of materials, products, etc.)

   Examples

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   Volatiles of kecap manis and its raw materials were extracted using Likens-Nickerson apparatus with diethyl ether as the extraction solvent. The extracts were then dried with anhydrous sodium sulfate, concentrated using a rotary evaporator followed by flushing using nitrogen until the volume was about 0.5 ml.

   raw cane sugar

   raw sewage

4. Having had the skin removed or abraded; chafed, tender; exposed, lacerated.

   Examples

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   ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’

   a raw wound

5. New or inexperienced.

   Examples

   a raw beginner

6. Crude in quality; rough, uneven, unsophisticated.

   Examples

   a raw voice

7. Uncorrected, without analysis.

   Usage

   • of data

   Examples

   What makes Mexico worrying is not just the raw numbers but the power of the cartels over society.

8. Unpleasantly cold or damp. (of weather)

   Examples

   a raw wind

   a raw and gusty day

   More examples (2)

   […] I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, […]

   He made Yossarian think of cripples and of cold and hungry men and women, and of all the dumb, passive, devout mothers with catatonic eyes nursing infants outdoors that same night with chilled animal udders bared insensibly to that same raw rain.

9. Unmasked, undisguised, strongly expressed. (of an emotion, personality, etc.)

   Examples

   raw emotion

10. Candid in a representation of unpleasant facts, conditions, etc.

    Examples

    a raw description of the American political arena

11. Unrefined, crude, or insensitive, especially with reference to sexual matters. (of language)

12. Without a condom.

    Usage

    • Slang

    Examples

    raw sex

13. Not covered; bare; bald.

    Usage

    • Obsolete

    Examples

    with scull all raw

Adverb

1. Without a condom.

   Usage

   • Slang

   Examples

   We did it raw.

   You know what I be on, I'm about to go raw

Noun

1. An unprocessed sugar; a batch of such.

   Examples

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   With the recent advance in London yellow crystals, however, the disproportion of the relative value of these two kinds has been considerably reduced, and a better demand for crystallized raws should consequently occur.

   Early in the year the raws were melted to about 20 Brix in order to facilitate filtration.

   More examples (1)

   The world sugar contract closed 1 to 3 points net higher, with sales of only 36 lots. London raws sold at 8s. 4½d., and futures there were unchanged to 3d. higher.

2. A galled place; an inveterate sore.

3. A point about which a person is particularly sensitive.

   Usage

   • broadly
   • Figurative

   Examples

   In a moment Tom was angry. The women saw that Bill had touched him upon the raw, and they went out of the room to prepare a meal.

4. Unadulterated narcotics, especially crack cocaine

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   The year is '94, in my trunk is raw

5. A recording or rip of a show that has not been fansubbed.

   Usage

   • Slang

6. A scan that has not been cleaned (purged of blemishes arising from the scanning process) and has not been scanlated.

   Usage

   • Slang

Verb

1. To sexually penetrate without a condom.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Transitive

Adjective

1. (used especially of commodities) being unprocessed or manufactured using only simple or minimal processes

   Synonyms

   naturalrude

   Examples

   natural yogurt

   natural produce

   More examples (3)

   raw wool

   raw sugar

   bales of rude cotton

2. having the surface exposed and painful

   Examples

   a raw wound

3. not treated with heat to prepare it for eating

   Antonyms

   cooked

4. not processed or refined

   Examples

   raw sewage

5. devoid of elaboration or diminution or concealment; bare and pure

   Synonyms

   naked

   Examples

   naked ambition

   raw fury

   More examples (1)

   you may kill someone someday with your raw power

6. brutally unfair or harsh

   Examples

   received raw treatment from his friends

   a raw deal

7. not processed or subjected to analysis

   Synonyms

   crude

   Examples

   raw data

   the raw cost of production

   More examples (1)

   only the crude vital statistics

8. untempered and unrefined

   Examples

   raw talent

   raw beauty

9. hurting

   Synonyms

   sensitivesoretender

   Examples

   the tender spot on his jaw

10. unpleasantly cold and damp

    Synonyms

    bleakcutting

    Examples

    bleak winds of the North Atlantic

11. used of wood and furniture

    Synonyms

    unsanded

    Examples

    raw wood

12. lacking training or experience

    Synonyms

    new

    Examples

    the new men were eager to fight

    raw recruits

13. (used informally) completely unclothed

    Synonyms

    bare-assedbare-assin the altogetherin the buffin the rawpeelednaked as a jaybirdstark naked

Noun

1. informal terms for nakedness

   Synonyms

   altogetherbirthday suit

   Broader terms

   nakednessnuditynudeness

   Examples

   in the raw

   in the altogether

   More examples (1)

   in his birthday suit