Example sentences of "[vb past] a habit [prep] [v-ing] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | The Colonel made a habit of inviting to dinner certain of his friends whom , in his subsequent reports , he would disguise under discreet pseudonyms . |
| 2 | After that I made a habit of sending Timmy upstairs ahead of me when it 's time to go to bed . |
| 3 | The maid , Boule — she was originally called Henriette , but Simenon made a habit of re-naming the women in his life — was required to fillet live sardines which Simenon then swallowed raw . |
| 4 | He had a tame magpie which , in keeping with tradition , would occasionally steal shiny objects , and a short-eared brown owl which was quartered in his barn and developed a habit of flying at the heads of visitors and knocking off their hats . |
| 5 | It was rumoured that as the monarch 's virility grew less reliable he developed a habit of taking substantial quantities of aphrodisiacs . |
| 6 | This was required as the bandits had a habit of using unexploded ordnance against Commonwealth forces . |
| 7 | Johnson , in his periodic spring cleanings , had a habit of donning large gloves and lustily banging his books together amid clouds of dust before returning them to their shelves shaken and contused . |
| 8 | FOR YEARS , SOME FRIENDS AND I HAD A HABIT OF HIRING A COTTAGE somewhere deep in the Highlands at New Year . |
| 9 | Mary Worty had a habit of getting drunk and then getting into fights and her face was criss-crossed with cuts and she would get in the window of her bedroom , start giving the history of people all the way down and then they 'd all get out in crowds . |
| 10 | He had a habit of singing joylessly about the house , and my colleague was one day amazed to hear what she thought was ‘ Drink to me Only ’ ; she had , however , little time to be surprised at this sensuality , for more careful listening revealed that the words were all about hell-fire and damnation . |
| 11 | As the former had a habit of overflowing at times when carelessly topped up it was not long before the bridge deck , lower deck and surrounding fittings were stained a delicate shade of blue . |
| 12 | Jane mentioned a typewriter , paper , carbon — when asked for anything , Jim had a habit of drawing in his breath even more sharply , as if he 'd been wounded . |
| 13 | It had a habit of jumping on the bed when they were making love and clawing him . |
| 14 | Agger was struck by the Pahlavi dogs , particularly the Great Dane , Beno , a vast animal that had a habit of nuzzling peoples laps . |
| 15 | This continued into adult life and he had a habit of creating nicknames for his closest friends : Anjelica became Tootie , Beatty became the Pro , John McEnroe was Johnniemac , etc . |
| 16 | He had a habit of spitting into his hands and licking moisture on to his fingers while he worked . |
| 17 | ‘ Yes , he had a habit of propping himself on that stool in front of a picture and it must have gone over with him . |
| 18 | She also had a habit of calling the United States " The New World " . |
| 19 | He had calculated , however , that he would need to give three poetry readings in order to cover his expenses on this visit : he did only the amount that was strictly necessary , since the Inland Revenue had a habit of taking much of any extra income he earned . |
| 20 | It ran from the end of the road , pulled by a rather weary horse which had a habit of stopping suddenly to the dismay of its passengers . |
| 21 | Mr Young , though thinnish , had a habit of eating half his wife 's food as well as his own . |
| 22 | He had a habit of beginning each section with some arresting phrase such as ‘ Savages and churchmen … ’ , which made the audience sit up . |
| 23 | Her working gear comprised an oversized boat-necked T-shirt which had a habit of slipping off one shoulder , frayed denim shorts and flip-flops . |
| 24 | On a particularly difficult issue she had a habit of canvassing everyone privately , except the person directly involved , so that when the matter was finally aired she would already be in command of all views . |
| 25 | She had a habit of shrieking . |
| 26 | Brenda Acton , a seemingly competent and well-organized person , had a habit of talking about various events in her life as if other people had prior knowledge of the circumstances leading up to these events . |
| 27 | Bad news had a habit of springing ghastly surprises , the way that shattering news about her mother had sprung the cruellest surprise of all … the way her foolish idyll last night had been ruthlessly shattered this morning … |
| 28 | The birds had a habit of dipping their beaks in the water and then shaking their heads so that the ivory-coloured beaks flashed in the sun . |
| 29 | The letter though … anonymous letters had a habit of turning very nasty . |
| 30 | They did sometimes falter against lesser teams , and in particular had a habit of losing to Crystal Palace in Cup ties , but Northampton were still rank outsiders , especially as their League performances were in the doldrums . |