Example sentences of "that could only [verb] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Shakespeare evidently shared Donne 's dissatisfaction with the extant convention , agreed with him that unfulfilled love was a trope that could only lead to a limited number of stereotyped situations . |
| 2 | His hands tightened when she tried to step back , and Claudia , refusing a struggle that could only lead to one thing , stood very still . |
| 3 | It i my Lord Mayor , it is indeed colossal cheek and pure hypocrisy on the part of the Tory Group , and particularly on the part of Councillor , to be putting forward the resolution congratulating schools on their success in responding to the introduction of Local Management , when they and the Government , between them impose such conditions that could only lead to chaos and disorder . |
| 4 | 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 . |
| 5 | Suddenly , as we were walking on , we heard the dogs barking in that frantic , menacing way that could only mean they 'd given chase . |
| 6 | This was the gravamen of Bukharin 's complaint , that Preobrazhensky , whilst claiming to discuss abstract theory , was in fact discussing matters that could only relate to concrete current policies . |
| 7 | After that they had decided to get across the other side and ‘ maybe give the girls a fright ’ , an entirely mad idea that could only end in tears , and all the better for it . |
| 8 | Before she went to Navron she told Harry she felt like the well fed birds that could only fly about in their cage , but ‘ one day I set a linnet free which flew straight out of my hand towards the sun . ’ |
| 9 | Then , in that second of hushed silence before the screen and fanfare blaze out , there came from the middle of the auditorium a huge and shocked voice ‘ What the fookin''ell are yo ’ doin' ? ' , followed almost at once by two mighty smacks that could only have been someone being hit . |
| 10 | And his young wife accompanied him with a sensitive mastery that could only have been born of love . |
| 11 | After that , there was a series of horrific , shaming cameos that could only have come from the unconscious . |
| 12 | Quite apart from the fears this aroused on the left , the price of CEDA support was a return , especially in rural Spain , to the social situation of the monarchy — a course that could only have explosive consequences . |
| 13 | Pictures that could only have come from the Americans or the British , ’ Kragan answered warily . |
| 14 | Oliver North to Iran , travelling on Irish passports , to organize the sale of TOW missiles and launchers to the Iranian government in exchange for the release of American hostages ; details of money transfers and bank accounts , with dates and places — most of it based on incidents and conversations that could only have been known to the Iranian or American negotiators . |
| 15 | Robina Fairfax 's mouth opened in a smile which revealed teeth that could only have been her own , so variously coloured and oddly shaped were they . |
| 16 | She tried to ease her hand out from under his but met with a resistance that could only have been overcome by struggling , and pride refused to let her do that . |
| 17 | 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 . |
| 18 | At Ashburnham , Brown created a late eighteenth-century sense of ‘ wilderness ’ that could only come from the utmost ingenuity ; sudden ‘ surprise ’ views of the house replaced the structured avenues and rigid vistas of earlier occupants . |
| 19 | Chainsaw guitars , bonecrusher drums , some bloke yammering on about serial killers … a sound that could only come from one place . |
| 20 | Carter are unlikely and entirely pop stars , the kind of phenom that could only happen here . |
| 21 | Finally there was the ticket for the left-luggage office at Paddington station , something that could only cross the Atlantic by hand . |