Example sentences of "if only [prep] a [adj] " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
|---|---|
| 1 | These passions are disinterested , in the sense that they excite me to help or harm you as in yourself attractive or repulsive to me , irrespective of further advantage to myself ; they treat you not as means but as end , if only as a negative end . |
| 2 | Not that he did n't know its history — he had been part of it , if only as a silent witness of his brothers ' refusal to join the Fenian organisation which had started trying to recruit the young men of their day . |
| 3 | The implications of these facts should be obvious and the status of chimpanzees as a threatened species is a powerful consideration in favour of banning their use in the laboratory , if only as a remedial measure , despite the pressures of the AIDS lobby . |
| 4 | If used strictly according to recommendations , chemical treatments have their place , if only as a last resort for serious threats . |
| 5 | The petty bourgeoisie of shopkeepers and self-employed tradesmen needed to keep accounts even if only of a primitive kind , but the growing fraction of permanent journeymen among the artisans grew into a more literate as well as more skilled elite section of the labouring classes . |
| 6 | The time demanded in maintaining roses is not great , it does not mean a number of hours or days a week , but it does mean a regular tour around , if only of a few minutes ' duration , perhaps in the evenings , with secateurs in hand to snip or prune away faded flowers , and a puff or spray here and there as and when you find aphids or other pests . |
| 7 | The battle of the Catalaunian Plains was proof that the imperial policy could work , if only for a limited period of time . |
| 8 | If a killer thinks , even if only for a split second , that it is face to face with an owl or an eagle , it is very likely to back away and this may give the harmless bluffer enough time to escape . |
| 9 | When the slings and arrows of outrageous everyday life buffet our heads , we escape to Assynt , even if only for a long weekend , and always return refreshed , perspective regained . |
| 10 | Mungo could not explain why but he felt a sense of release at being out of the village , if only for a short time . |
| 11 | Some diets are not successful at all but some are , even if only for a short time . |
| 12 | His new civility did not last , but , as Daisy Yates remarked one day in the following week , it had been pleasant not to have such a right little God Almighty in Cas. , if only for a short time . |
| 13 | Well , of course this option must be open , but the needs of the women who choose to stay at home , if only for a short time , can not be ignored . |
| 14 | Freedom , if only for a short time , and she would have a chance to speak to Rose , whom she had not seen since their evening out together up West . |
| 15 | It is good that we can walk into that world again , even if only for a brief interlude . |
| 16 | We could do the same , but every piece of music must have its own shape , and many composers introduce new material at this point , even if only for a brief few bars . |
| 17 | Fifty years later they captured Delphi , if only for a brief period . |
| 18 | Once in the hides , sentries had been posted to protect the company positions , and many of the men took the opportunity to get some rest , if only for a few minutes . |
| 19 | We men , we know not what loftiness we might reach if only for a few small hours we could by carefulness of life , morally and physically so exact ourselves that scarce any utmost purity of air were too perfect for us . |
| 20 | These days the ladies will ride if only for a few hundred yards . |
| 21 | Despite this demonstration of his habitual need for normal sleep , even if only for a few hours a night , this same individual appeared on television a few years later , again claiming never to sleep . |
| 22 | Opportunities to relax and let her guard down , even if only for a few hours , had been rare . |
| 23 | We knew it was not true to life but it was a good way to escape our humdrum lives if only for a few hours . |
| 24 | On second thoughts , it might not be such a bad idea , if only for a different reason . |
| 25 | Stay , if only for a little while . ’ |
| 26 | The general aim was to hand these problems over , if only at a conceptual level in the first instance , to the North and South Devon district management teams . |
| 27 | To reach such a target audience we probably need , at the minimum , ( a ) about two pages of description by the authors of each unit , telling the user how to load the program , how to drive it , and its limitations both educationally and technically this information could be included on the disc or tape that loads the program ( b ) some incentive to the programmer to document the program to this level , perhaps through its resulting acceptance into a ‘ library ’ ( c ) assurance from those receiving the program that they will be prepared to deal with the problems that such draft programs impose — this implies that they must be fairly competent users of their computer system : they could not expect to get software support from the author , who is likely to be another teacher whose time is fully occupied ( d ) some financial and organizational support for the distribution of programs , even if only on a cooperative basis ( e ) that users of such programs should undertake to report to the authors ( and to the library ? ) on the usefulness of each program received , and if they wish , to make recommendations for improvement . |
| 28 | In fact , we know that the radiation must have traveled to us across most of the observable universe , and since it appears to be the same in different directions , the universe must also be the same in every direction , if only on a large scale . |
| 29 | Being useful , even if only in a small way , was a marvellous booster of confidence . |
| 30 | But all the time — from the moment I began to speak , in fact — I knew this was partly a lie : I enjoyed the intrigue of politics , the excitement , the feeling , if only in a limited way , of power . |