1. (n.) 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.

2. (n.) 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.

3. (n.) 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.

4. (n.) That which one has to treat, or with which one has to do; concern; affair; business.

5. (n.) Affair worthy of account; thing of consequence; importance; significance; moment; -- chiefly in the phrases what matter ? no matter, and the like.

6. (n.) Inducing cause or occasion, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing; difficulty; trouble.

7. (n.) Amount; quantity; portion; space; -- often indefinite.

8. (n.) Substance excreted from living animal bodies; that which is thrown out or discharged in a tumor, boil, or abscess; pus; purulent substance.

9. (n.) 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.

10. (n.) 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.

11. (v. i.) To be of importance; to import; to signify.

12. (v. i.) To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.

13. (v. t.) To regard as important; to take account of; to care for.

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