Example sentences of "as [conj] it [vb past] [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | The prison did little to lighten their mood : grey frowning walls with a few sombre buildings peeping above them , and a black gateway with an arch which yawned as if it wished to devour any unfortunate who approached it . |
| 2 | Even in daylight it had a sombre , suspicious air as if it wished to slink back from the adjoining houses . |
| 3 | He jerked his hand back as if it had received an electric shock : a cheek nerve had quivered . |
| 4 | It was a black and white picture , superficially scratched , and curling at the edges , as if it had received much handling . |
| 5 | The room was deserted and desolate : the arctic blue bubble of the drinking water machine looked as if it had turned to ice , two desk lights burned pointlessly above unoccupied desks and the rubbish bins were still brimming with polystyrene cups and waste paper . |
| 6 | She made a gesture with a graceful hand that shut me up as if it had turned a tap . |
| 7 | I had a chillingly clear picture of its abominable face : it had so many wrinkles and boils it looked as if it had lived for centuries . |
| 8 | Most countries tax multinationals on an ‘ arm 's length ’ basis , calculating the profits that the firm earned within their borders as if it had done so through a stand-alone business , operating at arm 's length from the parent firm . |
| 9 | When it had finished , it hared off across the garden as if it had done something clever . |
| 10 | His self-conscious gaucheness vanished as if it had evaporated in the thin cold air of the mountains and he found friends . |
| 11 | The Dome itself , designed by Ralph Tubbs , looked as if it had descended from Mars . |
| 12 | The moon squatted above the mountains hugely , as if it had descended in majestic importance to pay a visit to this district , these mountains , this town only . |
| 13 | The black cloud returned to the screen as if it had followed them . |
| 14 | She felt as if she never wanted to go back into the house , as if it had tied her with a million cobweb fine lines , as the Lilliputians had trapped Gulliver , and that she could not get free . |
| 15 | The afternoon and evening seemed to pass with agonizing slowness , yet , when the time came for Maurice 's departure , it felt to Charlotte as if it had crept up and taken them by surprise . |
| 16 | The exposed skin was flushed and glowing ; here and there it resembled tanned leather and , in some cases , it looked as if it had split and healed , and split again . |
| 17 | The office looked as if it had fallen under the same spell of passing time as Dexter , and been unoccupied for weeks rather than hours — the motes of dust , the grime of London gently settling on files , videotapes and yellowing newspapers . |
| 18 | But then the weather changed and although things were given and flowering it was cold and windy and it seemed strange there should be all that blossom , wrong like , as if it had made a mistake and popped up at the wrong time — that was because I had felt the warmth of those few nice days . |
| 19 | He then engaged full astern , causing the boat to stop as if it had hit a brick wall , and cried : ‘ Drop anchor ! ’ |
| 20 | Long , unkempt hair , several missing teeth , and a nose that looked as if it had met more than one fist in its owner 's lifetime did nothing for his general appearance . |
| 21 | It had appeared , it would move on , but for this moment it was there for her — almost as if it had waited for her to be alone . |
| 22 | Magic had descended from somewhere and made her invisible ; and in the process it had … well , it felt as if it had killed her . |
| 23 | The most striking feature of his appearance was a sheepskin jacket which looked as if it had seen better days , sometime in the late nineteen seventies . |
| 24 | I mean , the light coming from them would be bent — as if it had gone through crinkly glass — like you get in bathroom windows . |
| 25 | ‘ The Libyan desert has become an inferno where the front line moves continuously as if it had gone mad , ’ wrote Monelli , an Italian war correspondent . |
| 26 | It looked as if it had gone straight over the side and into the valley . |
| 27 | drinking his beer as if it had gone flat , she thought , seeing him before he saw her . |
| 28 | Tallis called , and as if it had understood its name the Green Jack stopped a moment , stared sadly at the woman with the horse . |
| 29 | But repeat the procedure often enough and the response will diminish and eventually the animal will no longer curl itself into a ball when touched — as if it had become accustomed to the stimulus and no longer regarded it as dangerous . |
| 30 | By that time , many more men had arrived , swirling up through the yard to be sucked into the hall , as if it had become the quiet , humming centre of some whirlpool of power . |