Example sentences of "[pron] by [verb] " in BNC.

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1 Dentan , for example , describes the Semai concept of persusah — to make difficulty or unhappiness for someone by meddling in his affairs — and notes that the prescribed response to such interference is withdrawal or passivity ( 1968 : 63 ) .
2 On balance it is easier to reach someone by telephoning them than by trying to see them .
3 We get them from other people by communication ; and we get them for ourselves by thinking , or by observation , or both .
4 The signs we can amuse ourselves by locating in a Daguerreotype under extreme magnification are , in the 1980s , all too abundantly clear to the naked eye .
5 We safeguarded ourselves by leaving one man behind to clear the rabbits that became entangled in front of the main wood .
6 We can prove that Birmingham is a nice place ; we can embarrass ourselves by straining each nerve , adopting all blandishments to try and make its detractors like our city .
7 To a great extent eyes are able to take over the function of keeping us upright because we are able to orientate ourselves by seeing our own position in relation to the world around .
8 We must protect ourselves by issuing a disclaimer on our liability for the accuracy of any information released , since the source data may be unreliable .
9 ‘ But the thrust of our approach is to start at home , focusing on one thing at a time rather than confusing ourselves by trying to do everything at once — which is a major reason why 85 per cent of organisations trying to do something in this area fail to get it right .
10 In our culture , which sets such a high premium on self-enrichment ( in every sense ) , the robust , emotive and expressive aspects of soul act as a sort of therapy , helping us to ‘ liberate ’ ourselves by getting back in touch with ourselves , opening up , unblocking , becoming more functional and therefore ( it runs ) more ‘ free ’ .
11 For example , if we have raised our body temperature by exercise or effort then cooling ourselves by taking a cold shower , a swim , or a cold drink makes us more comfortable .
12 Despite offers of another bottle , we declared a truce and comforted ourselves by sharing a strawberry and raspberry gratinée , the fresh fruit beached in a hot lake of custard and centred with a melting raspberry sorbet : definitely my desert island dish .
13 We learn about ourselves by making mistakes , as well as through success ; we learn nothing by staying in a rut .
14 Since development is far more important , it was argued , we should attract the cream to ourselves by offering competitive and lucrative wages .
15 What we have done to ourselves is to destroy the adventure of life by rooting ourselves to one spot in the physical sense , and demoralising ourselves by forcing the mind to spend its time on nuts and bolts and the rest of our shoddy interests , when it is thirsting for the trackless regions of the nomads .
16 But it seems we consoled ourselves by scoffing more chocs .
17 He was n't available , so we then covered ourselves by signing him before the January deadline with a view to playing him when he became available . ’
18 ‘ Twelve months ago we came on leaps and bounds , and surprised even ourselves by winning the All Ireland .
19 Until he knew deep in his belly that he would only ever excel and humble that damnable ‘ brother ’ of his by making himself into a devotee of Lexandro 's existence , akin to a cultist , a protector and preserver of d'Arquebus in his ostentatious recklessness .
20 The last remark is odd : her half-brother Charles certainly killed himself by jumping off a bridge , and it is unlikely that the deaths of her sisters ‘ Topsy ’ and ‘ Baby ’ were due to an accidental overdose of veronal .
21 She said there was no way her husband of 46 years would have killed himself by jumping off his luxury yacht .
22 It was on this stretch of line near Didcot that William McCrae tried to kill himself by jumping off a train travelling at nearly seventy miles an hour .
23 He escaped the fire but later killed himself by jumping in front of a truck .
24 He had managed to dislodge the noose from his neck and save himself by jumping into the freezing water below .
25 He comforted himself by watching her on television .
26 He must get this right , not make a fool of himself by stumbling over the words , not using the correct terminology or not knowing which fish he wanted .
27 Where the privacy of routine cases provides an effective screen to scrutiny , however , the field officer is freed from the need to cover himself by acting according to his perception of the organization 's expectations .
28 In the meantime he amused himself by feeding Dwarf captives to Gobbla , the enormous , malodorous and psychopathically vicious Cave Squig which he kept firmly chained to his left leg .
29 Thucydides distinguished himself by transferring the real cause of the Peloponnesian War to the more impersonal fears inspired in the Peloponnesians by Athens .
30 We are conscious of what Zuckerman does for Roth : when he helps a man to gather his spilt heart pills , it is Roth helping himself by assigning a small mercy .
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