Example sentences of "it [was/were] no [adj] than a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Picking up the axe as though it were no heavier than a bread-knife , Jos indicated the unsplit wood . |
| 2 | Out across the water , the end of the lake had not yet emerged from the mist , and the mountains above it were no more than a delicate shadow of grey against a deep grey sky . |
| 3 | But to press into service , as though it were no more than a compendium of useful organs , the body of a servant , a friend — and a friend , at that , who died for a crime attributable to one 's own negligence — well , this moral madness placed him beyond human consideration . |
| 4 | It was as heavy as an ox in spite of the fact that it was no taller than a young steer , and a green and greasy liquid flowed from its wounds . |
| 5 | Burun cursed , and Rostov saw that the straw circle had been moved back and turned sideways so that it was no wider than a man 's forearm . |
| 6 | It was no more than a shadow on his deepening melancholy . |
| 7 | It was no more than a wooden shed , with shelves layered round the walls , and a counter . |
| 8 | The pressure of legal penalties , not only against pagans but eventually also against heretics , schismatics , and Jews , no doubt had a part to play ; but to judge by the extent to which Christian mobs could get their way without restraint years before the emperors ' coercive legislation , enacted in the years after 390 , it was no more than a minor part . |
| 9 | For most horses it 's a big fence , but to him it was no more than a hurdle . |
| 10 | Cam had a vague memory of a glamorous ‘ aunt ’ , who had once taken a remote interest in his father , but it was no more than a shadow . |
| 11 | It was no more than a change of emphasis , but it emboldened the opposition . |
| 12 | It was no more than a ticket booth . |
| 13 | It had a resale value , even if it was no more than a few lire . |
| 14 | Sometimes it was no more than a retaining fee ; sometimes , like a normal feudal holding , it paid the knight for some period of service . |
| 15 | Still , it helped a little , numbing-his anger until it was no more than a controlled resentment . |
| 16 | But it was no more than a consolation , and Bournemouth easily played out time in the monsoon to earn a second-round trip to Cheltenham . |
| 17 | A movement moves : it does not , and dares not , coalesce ; and to capitalise it was no more than a modest journalistic hyperbole and a useful summary of an undoubted shift in literary taste . |
| 18 | They seemed to smell the air and if a lone bird hove in sight , they 'd pick it up when it was no more than a speck and watch it till it disappeared , and everything about it would be important to them — the direction of its flight , the way it flew , its height above the water , and so on . |
| 19 | It was no more than a flip ad-lib . |
| 20 | With prescience Ho proclaimed : ‘ Great as was the victory it was no more than a beginning . ’ |
| 21 | He saw one of his jobs as keeping his ear to the ground on Blanche 's behalf , trying to catch discontent while it was no more than a distant rumble and to spot which detectives needed encouragement and which a gentle kick up the backside . |
| 22 | For a while as he walked , faster as the sun began to dip more quickly towards Nut 's receiving mouth , he thought he caught a glimpse of someone following him ; but it was no more than a glimpse , and the figure — a ghost in a dark robe — slipped out of sight behind a building 's corner before he could even take in its size . |
| 23 | The ball of fire that was billowing towards Hrun faded until , when it reached him , it was no more than a puff of warm air . |
| 24 | Anwar 's arm revolved faster and faster , until it was no more than a blur above his shoulders . |
| 25 | Paige stood in the doorway and watched his retreating figure until it was no more than a deeper patch of dark in the gathering gloom . |