Example sentences of "as if [verb] [adj] [noun sg] " in BNC.

  Next page
No Sentence
1 Now , while as if bestowing some order of merit she fastened the beads round my neck , her face wore a motherly expression and for the first time I was with the Aunt Louise of my childhood .
2 as if to illustrate this point I recently spoke to an angler on the Ribble and judging by the distance he held his hands apart — ’ Like this they were ! ’ — his recent catch of ’ two pounders ’ could easily have been around the 6lb mark !
3 Ruthven suddenly rose as if to suppress some excitement inside him .
4 She had a lump in her throat and an enormous yearning to say something beautiful to her father , something that could not be expressed by words , and so without quite knowing how it happened she suddenly turned her head and with a smile tossed out her arm in the air , easily , flowing , as if to see each other many more times .
5 as if to support this prediction , some newspapers underlined that American and French students were planning to take part , and noted that certain organisers were not English and therefore ‘ outside the consensus ’ ( ibid.:210–11 ) .
6 As they cycled along side by side , Deirdre put a comradely hand on Jacob 's shoulder , as if to deny any accusation in her words .
7 The boy was sitting there , not an arm 's length from him now , studying the patterns of black and white with a fierce intensity , as if to grasp some meaning from them .
8 Behind them , at the door , Lady Isabella peered on tip-toe over their shoulders , as if watching some masque or mummer 's play .
9 In any event , Acheson had realized that the US bargaining position with the French disappeared ‘ the moment we agree to give them aid ’ and , as if to confirm this predicament , a couple of days after Truman 's cabinet had decided unanimously in favour of recognition , the French were letting it be known that , although their intentions were indeed evolutionary , they could not ‘ afford to kindle unrealistic national appetites ’ .
10 If anything as Ceauşescu 's international position weakened the men in the Kremlin bestowed more medals on him , as if to mark each step in his growing dependence on them .
11 He put out his hand to touch her face ; it felt on fire , hot and dry with fever , as she turned to his hand mouthing , as if to take some sustenance from it .
12 In addition to this , as if to put modern technology in perspective , stood a wide , leather-trimmed green blotter , a traditional brass and onyx pen-stand , a leather-backed memo pad , and a revolving set of index cards .
13 He 'd lie on his bed at three or four in the morning just looking at them with rapt concentration , not reading them , just laying them out , changing which one was next to which one , as if determining some sequence or some relationship between the writers .
14 ‘ The protector closed his eyes and bowed his head , as if seeking Divine guidance .
15 ‘ It was gone , Eric , ’ he had explained , his eyes fidgeting to every part of Colonel Windsor 's crammed office as if seeking some corner which would not awaken images of once familiar surroundings .
16 A few paces to the right Yuan was flexing arm and shoulder muscles as if to ease some strain or tension , and Rostov wondered if the assassins knew how fast a Manchu could move when the need arose .
17 Bernice waited for the Doctor to continue , but he walked on and then glanced sideways at her as if expecting another question .
18 Perhaps symbolic is the typical picket line of today ; people in high spirits shouting slogans and singing to the beat of a salsa band as they march defiantly under the eyes of the police contrast with the solemn processions of strikers we had seen in the 1940s , walking through the streets in silence and in proper order , as if to create any disturbance was a mark of poor breeding .
19 I must have moaned : she looked at me coldly as if suspecting some kind of trickery , and then her face altered and she came across the room to take my arm and help me back to bed .
20 The southern Italian peasant , he said , acts as if following this rule : ‘ Maximise the material short-run advantage of the nuclear family ; assume that all others will do likewise .
21 He sat on the edge of the bed and began to recite all he knew as if memorising some poem : ‘ Buckingham dies , the agents die , garrotted to death . ’
22 The debate over academic freedom has been structured as if attaining academic freedom is part of a zero-sum game .
23 ‘ I think it must be your eyes , ’ he said at last , running his own gaze up and down as if giving intimate consideration to every other feature of her body .
24 ‘ The lad seems to be hungry , ’ he said cautiously , as if testing unknown ground .
25 She was watching him intently , as if to solve some riddle she had set herself .
26 Then she was closing her eyes in an agony of resistance , as if making that hand invisible could prevent what she knew was going to happen .
27 as if interpreting this remark as veiled disagreement , the newcomer repeated very loudly , looking Agnes straight in the eye : ‘ I detest modesty !
28 Isabella does not know that the Duke had played the role of the Friar instructing her in the foiling of Angelo 's plots , and so , lacking any independent evidence , she realizes how feeble her case must seem ; yet she still affirms that But the Duke , behaving as Angelo had predicted , and as he would have to behave if he had no evidence , sweeps aside her complaint , leaving her with only heaven to appeal to : The evil is indeed finally ‘ unfolded ’ , not by heaven but by the Duke , although Angelo ( as if recalling that passage in Luke 's gospel ) ascribes divine omniscience to him : But the Duke has only used deception and disguise , legitimately , as Shakespeare makes him say : ‘ Craft against vice I must apply ’ ( III.ii.270 ) .
29 It is an indication of how low Kylie 's emotional defences were during this crisis that — just for once — the intensely personal details of her life suddenly came gushing out , as if to exorcise some spirit that was within her .
30 ‘ Miss Araminta regards me as a servant , ma'am , ’ Theda said , faintly smiling , and reaching a hand out to stroke Hector 's woolly head where he lay on his blanket , as if to find some outlet for the feelings of gentleness running through her .
  Next page