: the substance of which a physical object is composed
b
: material substance that occupies space, has mass, and is composed predominantly of atoms consisting of protons, neutrons, and electrons, that constitutes the observable universe, and that is interconvertible with energy
c
: a material substance of a particular kind or for a particular purpose
vegetable matter
d(1)
: material (such as feces or urine) discharged from the living body
Noun He has a few personal matters to deal with. Disagreement is one thing, but accusations of lying are a different matter altogether! Can matter and energy be changed into each other? Verb It may not matter to you, but it matters a lot to me! “Why are you being so quiet?” “Does it matter?” “Of course it matters!”
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The fact of the matter, though, is that the Bengals have allowed 13 sacks through 130 minutes of game time over the first two weeks. Andrew Gillis, cleveland, 18 Sep. 2022 Some antiabortion Republicans also gave the bill a chilly reception, saying that the proposal, which has no chance of passage, simply served to motivate Democratic voters and that Congress should stay out of the matter for now. Alex Leary, WSJ, 18 Sep. 2022 The inspector general launched a review of the matter last month after receiving an anonymous email last month. Lori Aratani, Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2022 The facts of the matter are there is a reality to that. James Weber, The Enquirer, 16 Sep. 2022 In coming weeks, the company will start offering the accounts to thousands of workers and a small percentage of its online customers as part of an initial beta test of the new service, according to people with knowledge of the matter.BostonGlobe.com, 14 Sep. 2022 Friend-of-the-court briefs took an even broader view of the matter. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 13 Sep. 2022 The Commerce Department plans to impose the restrictions on three companies: KLA, Lam Research, and Applied Materials, according to unidentified sources with knowledge of the matter. Prarthana Prakash, Fortune, 13 Sep. 2022 The hard fact of the matter is that preventing hair thinning or boosting hair regrowth is a tricky problem to solve. Cristina Montemayor, Men's Health, 13 Sep. 2022
Verb
In Massachusetts, Eoin Reilly, a longtime immigration lawyer from Roslindale, said that being flown to Martha’s Vineyard instead of Boston might not matter in court, but that being promised a job that did not exist is a more serious legal issue. Jinitzail Hernández, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Sep. 2022 Wins and losses still matter in the NFL, but the ability to develop players is also important. Jaylon Thompson, USA TODAY, 11 Sep. 2022 But when the ground suddenly starts to shake under their feet, the puzzle of life doesn’t matter and the struggle to not be pulled into the abyss begins. Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 9 Sep. 2022 But that doesn’t matter to the masses of a fan base that has grown accustomed to elite QB play.oregonlive, 4 Sep. 2022 But the truth doesn’t matter for some candidates, who use the anti-media message to drum up support.cleveland, 3 Sep. 2022 The Heisman conversation in September also doesn’t matter, but at least there are games and stats behind those September arguments. Josh Newman, The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Aug. 2022 Individual endorsements rarely matter much on their own, but experts say that Bass’ virtual lock on party backing could be significant for voters. Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2022 But the refresh rate doesn’t matter much for web browsing and word processing. Sascha Brodsky, Popular Mechanics, 15 Aug. 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English matere, from Anglo-French, from Latin materia matter, physical substance, from mater