Definition of "extractive" [ex•tract•ive]

• Used in or obtained by extraction. (adjective)
• Possible to extract. (adjective)
• Something that may be extracted. (noun)
• The insoluble portion of an extract. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The rights and wrongs of America's system of class action, which gives new meaning to the term extractive industry, are properly matters for the U.S. courts and legislators."
• "It's a process that, like others, relies heavily on long-term extractive processes (metals mining), and spews effluent that's expensive to clean up and that companies bargain heavily to get environmental exceptions on."
• "The probe comes amid intensifying global scrutiny of corruption and bribery in the so-called extractive industries that generate raw materials."