Example sentences of "could [adv] [be] [verb] a " in BNC.
Next page| No | Sentence |
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| 1 | Enoch Powell , who needed nobody to tell him that he could n't win ( he knew that perfectly well ) , was not the object of anything that could properly be called a campaign : he was a loner with just a few devoted friends behind him . |
| 2 | ‘ … considered that a casual with a skilled trade may have his efficiency seriously impaired by being required to break stones and may , in order to avoid this task , feel compelled to sleep out or to commit some other offence against the law ; that it is impossible to expect the officer in charge of a casual ward to discriminate between men for whom the task would or would not be suitable , and that this would lay him open to accusations of favouritism or vindictiveness ; that the task could rarely be made a profitable one , and is repugnant to the class of workers most liable to unemployment , being looked upon by them as having penal associations and as entirely deterrent . ’ ) |
| 3 | In the North , the bishops pursued the Irish catholic community 's interests in what could only be called a spirit of ‘ pillarization ’ . |
| 4 | MYSELF and Marco Polo is a working model of a novel , a clever toy , a verbal tournament , a facetious blueprint for a possible future seriousness : it could only be called a success if its author 's aim was merely to intrigue , and I do not feel that Paul Griffiths can be that crude . |
| 5 | It could only be given a new lease of life by grounding its themes in a transformed image of a much more efficient , modernised , client-centred public sector , to which Labour has not yet seriously directed itself . |
| 6 | Obviously something like a car could only be considered a bribe ; on the other hand a vacuum cleaner , say , may be too expensive to give away in bulk but could certainly be offered for comparative testing . |
| 7 | I was going through what could only be described a ‘ drop-out ’ period . |
| 8 | Indeed , the primitive matchlocks could only be discharged a maximum of sixteen times during a whole day of battle . |
| 9 | This is a choice ( whether conscious or unconscious is a different matter ) , but could scarcely be called a style . |
| 10 | UP and coming Farnham band Feel could soon be spearheading a wave of fresh talent intent on reviving a staid top forty . |
| 11 | Lynda says that she did think long and hard about changing careers — not least about the fact that as a Stoy 's partner she could soon be drawing a six figure profit share , compared to the substantially lower salary she would get at C&R . |
| 12 | YOUNGSTERS with severe learning difficulties could soon be enjoying a holiday . |
| 13 | The skull of a Celtic princess which was dug up more than a hundred years ago could soon be given a face . |
| 14 | The " plan of action " stated that " we could soon be witnessing a dramatic exodus exceeding even that of August-September 1990 " [ see p. 37697 ] . |
| 15 | Otters could soon be making a comeback along the banks of our rivers , if a new project launched by a wildlife trust is successful . |
| 16 | In 1922 the capital of the guberniia could hardly be called a bastion of the proletariat . |
| 17 | There had already been a kerfuffle over the pornographic ones ; they could n't be included in the facsimile edition and yet at the same time it could hardly be called a complete edition if they were n't there . |
| 18 | The integration of its railway system — it could hardly be called a network — was a major problem . |
| 19 | The elongated , slightly oval hummock could hardly be called a grave , more a burial mound . |
| 20 | The garden could hardly be called a garden ; it was large , wild and not too well kept . |
| 21 | There was bougainvillaea in flower , clambering up the stone walls , small white roses on thin stalks among the weeds , and wild flowers in what could hardly be called a garden . |
| 22 | Now to an event that could hardly be called a sport , even though it did produce a new British champion . |
| 23 | LADY in black Jackie Miller could hardly be called a mo-pedestrian either . |
| 24 | ‘ That could hardly be called a conciliatory speech , ’ said Isambard delicately . |
| 25 | We had taken 120 carp and 2 cats so the trip could hardly be deemed a ’ cat-astrophe ’ ( sorry but I could n't resist it ) when suddenly one of Rick 's rods was away . |
| 26 | MALCOLM ALLISON 'S return to English football with penniless Bristol Rovers could hardly be termed a last ride on the gravy train . |
| 27 | Comparative industrial relations studies which involve Spain are virtually non-existent , the only exception springing to mind being Dunlop 's analysis in the 1950s ( when Spain could hardly be considered an ‘ advanced ’ capitalist country ) of the ‘ web of rules ’ in the construction industry ( 1958 : ch. 6 ) . |
| 28 | Diplomacy could still be made an uncomfortable and even dangerous profession by the slowness and physical difficulty of communications and by the inconveniences of life in the smaller and more remote capitals . |
| 29 | That the evening could still be counted a success was partly down to the attack and verve of the Liverpool Philharmonic Choir . |
| 30 | She had once shown me , at some distance from the train in which we were travelling , a high brick wall enclosing the park of a great house : in this wall could clearly be seen a door , and through that door , Grandma told me , she had always passed when going off duty . |