Noun

Substance, material.

# (physics) The basic structural component of the universe. Matter usually has mass and volume.

# (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles. (Non-antimatter matter).

# A kind of substance.

# Written material (especially in books or magazines).

# (philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.

A condition, subject or affair, especially one of concern.

* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)

if the matter should be tried by duel

* (John Milton) (1608-1674)

Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.

* Bible, (w) xviii. 22

Every great matter' they shall bring unto thee, but every small ' matter they shall judge.

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;

* 12 July 2012 , Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.

An approximate amount or extent.

* (John Milton) (1608-1674)

No small matter of British forces were commanded over sea the year before.

* (w, Roger L'Estrange) (1616-1704)

Away he goes,a matter of seven miles.

* (William Congreve) (1670-1729)

I have thoughts to tarry a small matter .

(obsolete) The essence; the pith; the embodiment.

* (Ben Jonson) (1572-1637)

He is the matter of virtue.

(obsolete) Inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.

* (John Milton) (1608-1674)

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.

(obsolete) Pus.

Noun

(en noun)

The work involved in performing an activity; exertion.

* , chapter=23

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=The slightest effort made the patient cough. He would stand leaning on a stick and holding a hand to his side, and when the paroxysm had passed it left him shaking.}}

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=June 22, author=Press Association, work=The Guardian

, title= Manchester United offer Park Ji-sung a new two-year contract , passage=The 30-year-old South Korean, who joined United in 2005, retired from international duty after last season's Asian Cup in an effort to prolong his club}}

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)

, title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.}}

An endeavour.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2012-03, author=William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter

, volume=100, issue=2, page=87, magazine=(American Scientist) , title= The British Longitude Act Reconsidered , passage=But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.}}

A force acting on a body in the direction of its motion.

(Rankine)