Example sentences of "merely a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | In common with the men of Qumran , with whom he seems to have had some links , John saw washing with water as merely a preparatory rite , while the great cleansing and the gift of the Spirit lay in the future ( I QS : 9–1 of and 4:21 ) . |
| 2 | Spoil-sports maintain that IR is merely a new name for what companies have been muddling along at anyway : arranging meetings between management and institutions , co-ordinating the annual general meeting , and producing the annual report . |
| 3 | It was merely a new version of an old horror , less tenable than the dreams of childhood , a more rational , more adult terror . |
| 4 | But the madrigal was not merely a new art form — it had nothing in common with the trecento madrigal except the name — but a landmark in a revolution of which we have already seen the beginnings in the frottole and laudi spirituali and occasional passages in the Italian-influenced northerners from Dufay onward . |
| 5 | He resisted , however , the notion that the polytechnics were merely a new breed of university . |
| 6 | This is merely a hypothetical possibility as in practice there are few if any securities with negative betas . |
| 7 | It is merely a rough guide to the general sentencing levels that this court feels is appropriate , and allowance needs to be made for inconsistency on the part of the Court of Appeal itself ( Thomas , 1993 ) , plus the considerable ‘ latitude ’ which is normally allowed before it will interfere with a sentence passed by the Crown Court . |
| 8 | It might be said that Rochlin is not to be taken seriously , being merely a popularizing psychologist . |
| 9 | This event , together with the Anti-Fascist Congress held at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in June 1933 , was not merely a major personal triumph for Barbusse in his struggle for co-operative politics . |
| 10 | For advice or guidance on any aspect of student life , or merely a friendly chat , you are invited to contact Student Services . |
| 11 | For advice or guidance on any aspect of student life , or merely a friendly chat , you are invited to contact Student Services . |
| 12 | ‘ The most reactionary government this century ’ is merely a mild form of left-wing rhetoric . |
| 13 | Some mixtures of garam masala available commercially include cumin and coriander , but this is merely a cynical way to reduce the cost . |
| 14 | It should not be discounted as merely a cynical manipulation on his part in order to restore flagging revolutionary morale by invoking the imperialist threat , even though it has in practice served that purpose . |
| 15 | Over the same period , small countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal and , indeed , larger countries such as West Germany and Japan , had a reduction in unemployment , so it is not merely a worldwide factor . |
| 16 | Mars was merely a sad story that somebody else had told her , but leaving the meanings was worse than unrequited love . |
| 17 | The 1994 budget , submitted in March by the defence secretary , Les Aspin , was merely a holding exercise , designed to keep the system ticking over until the new plan emerges . |
| 18 | Colonization involves merely a geographical extension of domestic law ; adoption of another State 's code is a short-cut route to the creation of the developing State 's law and does not have as its objective the facilitation of a common market or of inter-State commerce . |
| 19 | We do not suppose that the wipers ' starting to work was some sort of accident or mystery , of which the driver 's flipping the switch was merely a required condition . |
| 20 | It was natural to see these moving pictures as nothing more than a novelty , perhaps merely a passing gimmick ; they were , after all , only shown as an additional turn on the music-hall programme . |
| 21 | " And everywhere he is in chains ! " cried the Collector urgently in his delirium , causing both young ladies to turn anxiously towards his bed but it was nothing , merely a passing fancy in his overheated brain . |
| 22 | Admittedly , when young , one does tend to be annoyed by remarks such as , ‘ My grandad 's older than your dad ’ , and become increasingly frustrated by mum 's , ‘ When I was young a shilling would buy ’ lectures , but this is merely a passing phase . |
| 23 | We both now have far more important things to worry about than something which was merely a youthful — er — mistake , hmm ? ’ |
| 24 | It was not merely a Bolshevik view that empire was the source of a quiescent working class . |
| 25 | Here the ‘ tune ’ is not merely a luxuriating tonal resolution in the relative major , but a radiant affirmation that the struggle is over ( not for long admittedly ) , and that we have all gained immeasurably for having experienced it . |
| 26 | Thus a buyer 's legal position is better if he made no examination than if he made merely a superficial one . |
| 27 | Choreographers who are inspired to interpret music can do so in many ways , all of which can be successful , but only if they remember that its overall rhythm is not merely a mechanical guide to the timing of the steps within the dance design ( see page 68 ) . |
| 28 | As Box and Hale ( 1982,1985,1986 ) have argued , this response is not merely a mechanical response due to the increased workload but is due to a sufficiently large proportion of judges and magistrates responding to deteriorating economic conditions by resorting more frequently to the use of imprisonment . |
| 29 | A scarlet neon sign , Susan 's Sauna , subject of many nudge-nudge jokes at work , but to Vic merely a useful landmark , glows above a dingy shop-front . |
| 30 | The place of coal in the NEP appears to be to generate electricity instead of oil , although whether it has a long-term future in this rôle or is merely a useful stopgap is unclear . |