Example sentences of "could only [vb infin] [prep] a [noun sg] " in BNC.

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1 There were large and small holes and we could only go through a hole once .
2 Rosemary Roche , 35 , of Gillingham , Kent , endured five years of pain and for a while could only walk with a stick , said Deputy High Court Judge Morrison .
3 It was successfully argued that the phrase " is or " could only relate to a customer when the soliciting is taking place .
4 It was so much the sort of remark one could only make to a girl friend , but Rupert took it very nicely and said with only slightly forced heartiness , ‘ Jolly good , and it 's an excuse for me to have a better meal than usual , too .
5 Its concern with adolescent love , and the way in which its idealism and purity can not evade the sullying effects of adult realities , paralleled Minton 's own fear of lost youth , his obsession with adolescence and desire for a love that could only exist in a state untrammelled by adult responsibilities .
6 In Kober 's pianos the check could only function as a hammer rest and not as a true check because the hammer pointed towards the player .
7 ‘ I could only speak with a muffle . ’
8 They were uniform but occurred in such abundance and could so readily be transported that even when they were taken over as currency they could only serve as a rule for small change .
9 Here he was , a friar , a priest , a man sworn to chastity , feeling twinges of jealousy about someone he could only claim as a friend .
10 So the citizen could only flourish as a person by acting as a part or member of the whole , the community .
11 Despite the fact that Bill was in his mid-fifties and had a chronic heart condition , which meant he could only play for a maximum of five minutes a match , it was a good move on Fred 's part as the pub owned the cricket pitch at the rear and naturally , as captain , Bill felt obliged to hand it over to the club , and so ‘ The Tip ’ was born .
12 The lights upstairs were still on ; if she could only get to a window she might be able to see what the men outside were doing .
13 Such lèse-majesté could only come from a member of the public .
14 Carol had written it specially for Nicholson ; he could read some of the special nuances that would mean something to him and no one else , nuances that could only come from a friendship and working relationship spanning fifteen years .
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