matter

matter
    n 1: a vaguely specified concern; "several matters to attend
         to"; "it is none of your affair"; "things are going well"
         [syn: {matter}, {affair}, {thing}]
    2: some situation or event that is thought about; "he kept
       drifting off the topic"; "he had been thinking about the
       subject for several years"; "it is a matter for the police"
       [syn: {topic}, {subject}, {issue}, {matter}]
    3: that which has mass and occupies space; "physicists study
       both the nature of matter and the forces which govern it"
    4: a problem; "is anything the matter?"
    5: (used with negation) having consequence; "they were friends
       and it was no matter who won the games"
    6: written works (especially in books or magazines); "he always
       took some reading matter with him on the plane"
    v 1: have weight; have import, carry weight; "It does not matter
         much" [syn: {count}, {matter}, {weigh}]
    

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 constituent elements of conception; that into which a
      notion may be analyzed; the essence; the pith; the
      embodiment.
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            He is the matter of virtue.           --B. Jonson.
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   2. That of which the sensible universe and all existent
      bodies are composed; anything which has extension,
      occupies space, or is perceptible by the senses; body;
      substance.
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   Note: Matter is usually divided by philosophical writers into
         three kinds or classes: solid, liquid, and gaseous.
         Solid substances are those whose parts firmly cohere
         and resist impression, as wood or stone. Liquids have
         free motion among their parts, and easily yield to
         impression, as water and wine. Gaseous substances are
         elastic fluids, called vapors and gases, as air and
         oxygen gas.
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   3. That with regard to, or about which, anything takes place
      or is done; the thing aimed at, treated of, or treated;
      subject of action, discussion, consideration, feeling,
      complaint, legal action, or the like; theme. "If the
      matter should be tried by duel." --Bacon.
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            Son of God, Savior of men! Thy name
            Shall be the copious matter of my song. --Milton.
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            Every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but
            every small matter they shall judge.  --Ex. xviii.
                                                  22.
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   4. That which one has to treat, or with which one has to do;
      concern; affair; business.
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            To help the matter, the alchemists call in many
            vanities out of astrology.            --Bacon.
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            Some young female seems to have carried matters so
            far, that she is ripe for asking advice.
                                                  --Spectator.
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   5. Affair worthy of account; thing of consequence;
      importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the
      phrases what matter? no matter, and the like.
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            A prophet some, and some a poet, cry;
            No matter which, so neither of them lie. --Dryden.
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   6. Inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything
      disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble.
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            And this is the matter why interpreters upon that
            passage in Hosea will not consent it to be a true
            story, that the prophet took a harlot to wife.
                                                  --Milton.
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   7. Amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often indefinite.
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            Away he goes, . . . a matter of seven miles. --L'
                                                  Estrange.
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            I have thoughts to tarry a small matter. --Congreve.
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            No small matter of British forces were commanded
            over sea the year before.             --Milton.
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   8. Substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which
      is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess;
      pus; purulent substance.
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   9. (Metaph.) That which is permanent, or is supposed to be
      given, and in or upon which changes are effected by
      psychological or physical processes and relations; --
      opposed to {form}. --Mansel.
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   10. (Print.) Written manuscript, or anything to be set in
       type; copy; also, type set up and ready to be used, or
       which has been used, in printing.
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   {Dead matter} (Print.), type which has been used, or which is
      not to be used, in printing, and is ready for
      distribution.

   {Live matter} (Print.), type set up, but not yet printed
      from.

   {Matter in bar}, {Matter of fact}. See under {Bar}, and
      {Fact}.

   {Matter of record}, anything recorded.

   {Upon the matter}, or {Upon the whole matter}, considering
      the whole; taking all things into view; all things
      considered.
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            Waller, with Sir William Balfour, exceeded in horse,
            but were, upon the whole matter, equal in foot.
                                                  --Clarendon.
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Matter \Mat"ter\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Mattered}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Mattering}.]
   1. To be of importance; to import; to signify.
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            It matters not how they were called.  --Locke.
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   2. To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate. [R.]
      "Each slight sore mattereth." --Sir P. Sidney.
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Matter \Mat"ter\, v. t.
   To regard as important; to take account of; to care for.
   [Obs.]
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         He did not matter cold nor hunger.       --H. Brooke.
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MATTER. Some substantial or essential thing, opposed to form; facts. 
    

MATTER, IMPERTINENT, Equity pleading. That which is altogether irrelevant to 
the case, that does not appertain or belong to it; id est, qui ad rem non 
pertinet. 4 Bouv. Inst. n. 4163. See Impertinent. 
    

MATTER, SCANDALOUS, equity pleading. A false and malicious statement of 
facts, not relevant to the cause. But nothing which is positively relevant, 
however harsh or gross the charge may be, can be considered scandalous. 4 
Bouv. Inst. n. 4163. 
     2. A bill cannot by the general practice, be referred for impertinence 
after the defendant has answered, or submitted to answer, but it may be 
referred for scandal at any time, and even upon the application of a 
stranger to the suit, for he has the right to prevent the records of the 
court from being made the vehicle of spreading slanders against himself. Id. 
n. 41f 64. 
    

326 Moby Thesaurus words for "matter":
      activities, activity, ado, affair, affairs, air, ambition, amount,
      amount to something, amplitude, annoyance, anxiety, argument,
      article, aspect, aspiration, atom, atomic particles, atoms,
      autograph, bag, basis, be featured, be prominent, be somebody,
      be something, being, besetment, body, bother, brainchild,
      brute matter, building block, bulk, burden, business, calling,
      can of worms, carry weight, case, cause, chapter, chemical element,
      chyle, circumstance, colostrum, commerce, complication, component,
      composed matter, composition, computer printout, concern,
      concernment, condition, consequence, consideration, constituent,
      content, context, copy, core, count, cut ice, cut some ice, datum,
      dead matter, detail, difficulty, dilemma, disadvantage, discharge,
      distillate, distillation, document, doing, draft, earth,
      edited version, element, elementary particle, elementary unit,
      elixir, employ, employment, engrossment, enigma, enterprise,
      entity, episode, essay, essence, essentials, event, evil, extent,
      fabric, facet, fact, factor, fair copy, fester, festering, fiction,
      final draft, finished version, fire, first draft, flimsy,
      focus of attention, focus of interest, force, function,
      fundamental particle, get top billing, gist, gleet, goal,
      great ado, grievance, ground, guiding light, guiding star, head,
      headache, heading, heart, holograph, humor, hyle, hypostasis,
      ichor, ideal, implication, import, importance, incident,
      incidental, inconvenience, individual, inspiration, instance,
      intention, interest, issue, item, job, kernel, labor, lachryma,
      lactation, letter, leukorrhea, literae scriptae, literary artefact,
      literary production, literature, live matter, living issue,
      lodestar, lookout, lucubration, lymph, magnitude, main point,
      mainspring, manuscript, marrow, mass, material, material world,
      materiality, matter in hand, mattering, mean, meaning,
      meaningfulness, measure, measurement, meat, medium, milk,
      minor detail, minutia, minutiae, molecule, moment, monad, motif,
      motive, mucor, mucus, natural world, nature, neighborhood,
      nonfiction, nub, numbers, object, occasion, occupation, occurrence,
      opus, order, original, paper, parchment, particular, peccant humor,
      peck of troubles, penscript, phlegm, physical world, piece,
      piece of writing, pith, play, plenum, poem, point, point at issue,
      point in question, predicament, principle, printed matter,
      printout, problem, proceeding, production, purport, purulence, pus,
      puzzle, quandary, quantity, quantum, question, quintessence, range,
      rankle, rankling, reading matter, reason, recension, regard,
      respect, rheum, ripen, rubric, run, running, sake, saliva, sanies,
      sap, score, screed, scrip, script, scrive, scroll, sea of troubles,
      second draft, sense, serous fluid, serum, service, significance,
      signification, signify, situation, snot, soul, source, spirit,
      spring, stand out, standing matter, star, strength, stuff, subject,
      subject matter, subject of thought, substance, substratum, sum,
      sum and substance, suppurate, suppuration, sweat, tangible, tear,
      teardrop, tell, text, the four elements, the whites,
      the written word, theme, thing, to-do, topic, transaction,
      transcript, transcription, trouble, tune, typescript,
      ulterior motive, undertaking, unit of being, upset, upshot, urine,
      version, vicinity, vocation, water, weep, weigh, weight, whole,
      work, worry, writing