matter

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA ^(key): /ˈmætə/, SAMPA: /"m{t@/
• (US) IPA ^(key): /ˈmætɚ/, SAMPA: /"m{t@`/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mat‧ter

Noun

Singular matter

Plural matters

1. (countable) A matter is something that you can talk about or do something about a topic or a situation.

   Government must make these changes as a matter of urgency.

   We can discuss the matter more fully at the meeting.

   Whether our people should be in the country or not is matter for debate.

   At the meeting we will have time to talk about new matters arising.

   They decided on a number of matters related to housing.

   Try not to do anything to make matters worse.

   As a matter of principle, we should try to help poor people.

   It is not a simple matter to stop using gasoline.

   Care Assistants help them with such matters as toileting, dressing, washing and so on.

   The truth of the matter is that we do not know how to do it.

   The questions about the new president are a matter of public concern.

   Cheating on a test is a serious matter.

2. (uncountable) Matter is the stuff that everything is made of.

   Cities are trying to separate organic matter and other garbage.

   Scientists now think that there is some kind of "dark matter" in space.

3. You use, "as a matter of fact" to add information that may be surprising.

   "Have you met anyone interesting over there?" "As a matter of fact, I met a whole bunch of people just this afternoon.

4. You use "what's the matter" to ask somebody why they are unhappy, or why there is a problem.
5. You use "for that matter" when you have just thought about something that you are comparing to something else.

   He wasn't very nice today. For that matter, he's never nice.

6. If something is only a matter of time, it may not happen now, but it will happen after some time.

   It's only a matter of days now before I start the new job.

7. You use "no matter what" to say that even if other things change, a particular thing will not change.

   I'll be there no matter what. I promise.

Synonyms

• issue
• problem

Related words

• matter-of-fact

Verb

Plain form matter

Third-person singular matters

Past tense mattered

Past participle mattered

Present participle mattering

1. (intransitive) (usually negative) If something doesn't matter, it is not important.

   "Should I put it up there?" "Oh, it doesn't matter. Put it anywhere."

   Anyone can play. It doesn't matter if you're seven or 70.

   It doesn't matter what you do as long as it's fun.

   Many people don't like me, but that doesn't really matter to me.

   This should help a lot of people and that's what matters.

   "Sorry about that!" "Oh, it doesn't matter."

   It's not your money, so what does it matter?

Synonyms

• count