From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthe material worldthe material worldreal things, rather than ideas and beliefs Is the material world all that exists? → world
Examples from the Corpus
the material world• His followers are to trust in the goodness and providence of their heavenly father and abandon their care about the material world.• The members of the second were practical men who were leaders and men of action in the material world.• These are no doubt spiritual matters, but they have their analogue in the material world.• Such scientists refuse to admit that here they are dealing with another level or scale of being in the material world.• For Marx the material world is the ultimate reality.• The child's actions on the material world also provide a stimulus for conceptual development.• Flash heat, volcanism, lightning, wind, and waves all renew the material world.• That meant he could project his spirit as he slept, and wander the material world and even the spirit lands. 