matter

matter
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noun
1 subject/situation that must be dealt with
ADJECTIVE
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 in
VERB + 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 substance
ADJECTIVE
solid
organic, vegetable

composed entirely of organic matter

inanimate, inorganic
decaying
dark (science)
printed, reading
{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}
verb
ADVERB
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 more
VERB + 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.

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Synonyms:

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Matter — • Taking the term in its widest sense, matter signifies that out of which anything is made or composed Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Matter     Matter      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • matter — mat·ter n 1: a subject of consideration, disagreement, or litigation: as a: a legal case, dispute, or issue a matter within the court s jurisdiction often used in titles of legal proceedings matter of Doe see also in re b …   Law dictionary

  • Matter — Mat ter, n. [OE. matere, F. mati[ e]re, fr. L. materia; perh. akin to L. mater mother. Cf. {Mother}, {Madeira}, {Material}.] 1. That of which anything is composed; constituent substance; material; the material or substantial part of anything; the …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • matter — n 1 Matter, substance, material, stuff are comparable when they mean what goes into the makeup or forms the being of a thing whether physical or not. In the relevant sense matter basically denotes that of which all physical objects are made, but… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • matter — ► NOUN 1) physical substance or material in general, as distinct from mind and spirit; (in physics) that which occupies space and possesses mass. 2) an affair or situation under consideration; a topic. 3) (the matter) the reason for a problem. 4) …   English terms dictionary

  • matter — [mat′ər] n. [ME matiere < OFr < L materia, material, stuff, wood (< base of mater, MOTHER1), orig., the growing trunk of a tree] 1. what a thing is made of; constituent substance or material 2. what all (material) things are made of;… …   English World dictionary

  • Matter — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Bernhard Matter (1821–1854), Schweizer Krimineller, erwähnt in einem Lied von Mani Matter Franz Matter (1931–1999), Schweizer Schauspieler und Regisseur Herbert Matter (1907–1984), Schweizer Fotograf und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • matter — [n1] substance amount, being, body, constituents, corporeality, corporeity, element, entity, individual, material, materialness, object, phenomenon, physical world, protoplasm, quantity, stuff, substantiality, sum, thing; concepts 407,433,470 Ant …   New thesaurus

  • Matter — Mat ter, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Mattered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Mattering}.] 1. To be of importance; to import; to signify. [1913 Webster] It matters not how they were called. Locke. [1913 Webster] 2. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Matter — Mat ter, v. t. To regard as important; to take account of; to care for. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] He did not matter cold nor hunger. H. Brooke. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Matter — Matter, Jacques, geb. 1791 zu Alteckendorf im Elsaß, wurde 1819 Professor der Geschichte in Strasburg, 1821 Gymnasialdirector u. Professor der Geschichte an der dortigen protestantischen Akademie, 1831 Inspector der Akademie u. 1832… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

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