- matter
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun1 subject/situation that must be dealt withADJECTIVE▪ important, pressing, serious, urgent, weighty▪
He left, saying he had pressing matters to attend to.
▪The question of his innocence is a weighty matter for this court.
▪ complex, complicated, controversial, delicate, difficult, sensitive▪I wasn't sure how to approach the delicate matter of pay.
▪ simple, trifling (esp. BrE), trivial▪It is then a simple matter to print off the data you have collected.
▪ no easy, no simple▪It is no simple matter starting a new business.
▪ practical▪They've agreed in theory, but now we need to discuss practical matters.
▪ family, personal, private▪ subject▪His articles deal with a wide range of subject matter.
▪ economic, environmental, financial, legal, political, procedural, religious, spiritual, technical▪ routine▪The rest of the meeting was taken up by routine matters.
▪ related▪They talk mostly about work and related matters.
▪ different, other▪I don't mind lizards, but snakes are a different matter.
VERB + MATTER▪ bring up, broach, raise▪I thought I'd better broach the matter with my boss.
▪The matter will be raised at our next meeting.
▪ address, debate, discuss, go into, take up▪I don't really want to go into this matter now.
▪ press, pursue, take further▪After legal advice I chose to take the matter further.
▪ drop▪His lawyer advised him to drop the matter.
▪ consider, examine, investigate, look at, look into, tackle▪ clarify, clear up, decide, resolve, settle▪It's a relief to have the matter settled.
▪ approach, deal with, handle, treat▪Police are treating the matter as a murder investigation.
MATTER + VERB▪ be related to, pertain to (formal), relate to▪She was a great source of knowledge on matters relating to nutrition.
PREPOSITION▪ in a/the matter▪I don't have much experience in these matters.
▪Do I have any choice in the matter?
▪ on a/the matter▪Speak to your manager if you need help on this matter.
▪ matter for▪The incident is definitely a matter for the police.
▪ matter of▪It's a matter of concern to all of us.
▪We discussed the matter of whether or not to hire a bus.
▪Getting the effect you want is a matter of trial and error.
PHRASES▪ the crux of the matter, the heart of the matter (= the most important part of a subject/situation)▪ let the matter drop, let the matter go, let the matter rest▪She refused to let the matter rest.
▪ the matter in hand▪Let's concentrate on the matter in hand for now, and leave other issues till later.
▪ be no laughing matter▪The safety of his family was no laughing matter.
2 matters situation you are inVERB + MATTERS▪ complicate, confuse, make worse, not help▪It didn't help matters that I had a terrible cold.
▪To make matters worse, my friend then lost her keys.
▪ simplify▪Let me simplify matters by giving you my answer now.
▪ arrange▪She always arranges matters to suit herself.
3 substanceADJECTIVE▪ solid▪ organic, vegetable▪composed entirely of organic matter
▪ inanimate, inorganic▪ decaying▪ dark (science)▪ printed, reading{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}verbADVERB▪ a great deal, a lot, greatly, really▪These things matter a lot to young children.
▪ hardly, little (formal), not much, scarcely (esp. BrE)▪She could find a job. It hardly mattered what.
▪ no longer, not any moreVERB + MATTER▪ not seem to▪Somehow it didn't seem to matter much any more.
PREPOSITION▪ about▪It doesn't matter about the mess.
▪ to▪It didn't matter to her that he was blind.
PHRASES▪ not matter a/one bit, not matter a/one jot (BrE), not matter a/one whit (esp. AmE)▪It doesn't matter one whit what their ethnic background is.
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
