noun amount; quantity; portion; space;
often indefinite.
2. matter ·vt to regard as important; to take account of; to care for.
3. matter ·vi to form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.
4. matter ·noun that which one has to treat, or with which one has to do; concern; affair; business.
5. matter ·vi to be of importance; to import; to signify.
6. matter ·noun inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble.
7. matter ·noun 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.
8. matter ·noun substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess; pus; purulent substance.
9. matter ·noun affair worthy of account; thing of consequence; importance; significance; moment;
chiefly in the phrases what matter ? no matter, and the like.
10. matter ·noun 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.
11. matter ·noun 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.
12. matter ·noun 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.
13. matter ·noun 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.