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what's the matter
Idioms and Phrases
is the difficulty or problem? troubles or ails you? For example, You look upset—what's the matter? or Can you tell me what's the matter with my car? This idiom uses matter in the sense of “the essence of something,” in this case a problem. It was first recorded in 1469. Also see what's with .Example Sentences
“’s the matter? Are you afraid I’ll stab you?” she asked Chapman.
"He was in the corner of the lounge with his hands on his head, crouching in the corner and just sobbing. He was repeating 'I don't know what's the matter with me'."
“This man walked up to me, he was in a suit, and said, ‘’s the matter?’”
“That’s why we keep this stuff confidential, and why it makes perfect sense to do it even though everything in you screams, ‘I want to know what’s the matter with him.’”
To prescribe them, instead of just asking, “’s the matter with you?,” doctors, therapists, and health workers ask, “ matters to you?”
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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