SUBSTANCE

n. 1 material, matter, stuff; fabric, composition, make-up She couldn't recognize the substance in the bottle The comet's substance is mainly ice and dirt. 2 essence, pith, heart, core, gist, burden, theme, meat, kernel, nub, crux, sum total, sum and substance, point, gravamen, haecceity, quintessence, quiddity Explain, in 500 or fewer words, the substance of Hegel's dispute with Kant 3 meaning, import, significance, purport, signification, point Our visit to San Francisco gave substance to all we had read about it 4 reality, corporeality, solidity, actuality, concreteness You must learn to deal with the substance, not the shadows 5 means, wealth, property, possessions, riches, resources, affluence, assets John Culver was a citizen of some substance in this town