From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha matter of seconds/weeks/hours etca matter of seconds/weeks/hours etcSMALLonly a few seconds, weeks etc The ambulance arrived in a matter of minutes. The bullet missed his head by a matter of inches. → matter
Examples from the Corpus
by a matter of• A predator may have scented what you see and beaten you to it by a matter of an hour or so.• Options available may be severely limited by matters of health, geographical location, intelligence, family commitments and job availability.• Not so long ago Eamon Darcy was edged out of the top nine automatic spots, losing by a matter of a few points.• They missed Spider by a matter of minutes. 