Example sentences of "were close to [noun sg] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Again and again they startled , until they were close to exhaustion . |
| 2 | They were close to starvation and — typical of barn owls when they 're frightened — they sat as stiff as dummies , not making a sound . |
| 3 | It seemed terribly wrong that her family were still struggling even now to keep their heads above water , that many like them were close to starvation , when the clothes she , Alice , was wearing would have kept them in food for at least half a year . |
| 4 | Answers to questions about their fellow workers ' reactions when they heard the news of planned redundancies suggested a difference in attitude between some of those who were close to pension age and had been with the company for long periods and other workers . |
| 5 | Both were close to death . |
| 6 | It was the same quick , hard beat that he felt in his lambs when they were close to death . |
| 7 | Of the 17 other clerks of works , several were close to retirement age and took the opportunity to retire early ; others were given severance terms . |