natural resource
noun
1
natural resources plural : industrial materials and capacities (such as mineral deposits and waterpower) supplied by nature
2
: resource sense 1b
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Elinor Ostrom, who compiled success stories from around the world detailing situations in which humans were able to share a natural resource while protecting it. 
Joan Meiners, The Arizona Republic, 11 Aug. 2022 Energy, gas, natural resource development; national security (state and national problems). Anchorage Daily News, 5 Aug. 2022 Smart meters are a harbinger of what’s to come as utilities grapple with managing water, arguably the most finite valuable natural resource on the planet. Susan Galer, Forbes, 7 July 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed a perfect-storm trifecta of national security threats: insufficient military capacity, lack of energy/natural resource independence, and climate change. Anchorage Daily News, 5 Aug. 2022 The city bought the parcel for $773,500 from a private seller earlier this summer, said Mark Berninger, natural resource manager for the open space division of the Parks and Recreation Department. Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 The late great economist Julian Simon called human beings the ultimate natural resource. James Freeman, WSJ, 11 July 2022 Backpacking is free on the 60-plus miles of trails in this International Dark Sky Park—one of six designations granted by the International Dark Sky Association to help preserve dark sites as a natural resource. Alison Van Houten, Outside Online, 6 June 2019 The park has many boosters, including Rod Simmons, natural resource manager at the City of Alexandria. John Kelly, Washington Post, 5 July 2022 See More
Joan Meiners, The Arizona Republic, 11 Aug. 2022 Energy, gas, natural resource development; national security (state and national problems). Anchorage Daily News, 5 Aug. 2022 Smart meters are a harbinger of what’s to come as utilities grapple with managing water, arguably the most finite valuable natural resource on the planet. Susan Galer, Forbes, 7 July 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed a perfect-storm trifecta of national security threats: insufficient military capacity, lack of energy/natural resource independence, and climate change. Anchorage Daily News, 5 Aug. 2022 The city bought the parcel for $773,500 from a private seller earlier this summer, said Mark Berninger, natural resource manager for the open space division of the Parks and Recreation Department. Deborah Sullivan Brennan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Aug. 2022 The late great economist Julian Simon called human beings the ultimate natural resource. James Freeman, WSJ, 11 July 2022 Backpacking is free on the 60-plus miles of trails in this International Dark Sky Park—one of six designations granted by the International Dark Sky Association to help preserve dark sites as a natural resource. Alison Van Houten, Outside Online, 6 June 2019 The park has many boosters, including Rod Simmons, natural resource manager at the City of Alexandria. John Kelly, Washington Post, 5 July 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Kids Definition
natural resource
noun
: something (as water, a mineral, forest, or kind of animal) that is found in nature and is valuable to humans