Example sentences of "[prep] as [adj] [conj] a [noun sg] " in BNC.

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1 The little history of the period that has survived is an invaluable asset , but there are great dangers in using archaeological data to elucidate chronologically-based historical problems when the span of as little as a generation is so crucial .
2 After an incision through the skin of as little as a centimetre long , a device known as an ultrasound probe and laser fibres are inserted directly into the centre of the tumour .
3 EC beef exported to west Africa sells for as little as a quarter of the price shoppers in Britain must pay .
4 For as little as a copper coin , I will utter a howl guaranteed to wake the dead . ’
5 Niall Grant was about as vulnerable as a shark !
6 These arteries are about as wide as a drinking straw and they can all too easily become partially blocked with deposits of atheroma , a pasty mixture of cholesterol and cells .
7 In sporting terms , it was about as relevant as a showing of Treasure Hunt or Interceptor — the TV game shows which have occupied her recently .
8 You 're about as helpless as a hurricane . ’
9 In this real world context , which will powerfully affect Britain , Mr Smith 's ‘ luvvie ’ proposals are about as useful as a powder puff to a man with chronic heart disease .
10 ‘ Steve Lavalle is about as spiritual as a traffic bollard , and four times less intelligent — and you know it . ’
11 I get about as pissed as a bloke can .
12 In the press , in the House of Commons , in reports to government departments and in popular folklore there emerged the evacuee stereotype — a dirty , lice-ridden and foul-mouthed urchin who wet the bed with monotonous regularity , preferred fish and chips to a proper three-course meal and was about as domesticated as a wildcat ; similarly , the evacuee mother appeared as a negligent slut , impossible to live with and having the vocabulary of a Billingsgate fish porter .
13 It is the Alpine 's bizarre , clap-hands windscreen wipers which would do Heath Robinson proud with the unnecessary complexity of their design and engineering and , in the matter of clearing rain , are about as effective as a Government promise to bring more civil service jobs to Scotland .
14 For emotional resonance , flags are about as potent as a quadrilateral of cloth can be .
15 The same applies to Scrash , although they 're about as glamorous as a donkey on Skegness beach and marginally less attractive .
16 The Volkswagen Passat was about as glamorous as a visit to the supermarket , which was what it was principally used for .
17 That was about as welcome as a stick of shit in the tub-water .
18 Tax is about as popular as a trip to the dentist or a dose of malaria .
19 It 's pretty unlikely that this session will ever see the light of day on Strange Fruit , as the label 's last Wah release ‘ The Mighty Wah ’ proved about as popular as a motorway scheme through Kew Gardens .
20 Kiss is about as valid as a football game ; it 's a release , a chance for people to forget about their problems for a couple of hours , get together in some celebration and loose off some pent-up energy .
21 It looks like something a navvy might use to dig roads up — thin , hollow metal tube , about as thick as a size 10 knitting needle , with a gimlet-like plunger .
22 Pete did n't know whether to duck or run , and the choice was fairly academic anyway , as for the moment his body seemed to be about as responsive as a sack of rocks .
23 You are about as pliable as a lump of granite .
24 It is about as big as a fist , and bound securely with black gaffer tape .
25 There was very little noise as no-one had arrived — between twenty and thirty people were in the room — and we had this teeny stereo system about as big as a transistor radio for music .
26 They are about as big as a potato .
27 It 's not that the jokes are not funny , but just that they are about as fresh as a tin of those pineapple chunks .
28 Alina mostly took her breaks alone ; she 'd sit in a corner with a magazine , usually one of Adele 's old wildlife partworks , and be about as obtrusive as a church mouse until her time was over .
29 Characteristically , after this burst of bitter humour he added that ‘ it was quite nice ’ even though he found his host ‘ about as intelligent as a mule and as human as a boa-constrictor ’ .
30 ‘ Those meetings are about as bearable as a boil in the wrong place — though this one should be more interesting than most .
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