Example sentences of "was but a [noun] " in BNC.
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| 1 | It was but a village , and four small sailing boats , sails drooping and oars plying , moved out from a tiny wooden jetty as we moved in . |
| 2 | Perhaps a mature perception of this fact lay behind the rather surprising acquiescence of most Norman lords in William the Conqueror 's succession as duke in 1035 , though he was but a child and a bastard . |
| 3 | The first one was but a servant . |
| 4 | ‘ The other bearer , ’ said Georgiades , ‘ the first one , the one who was but a servant , was he also a Copt ? ’ |
| 5 | ‘ A foolish thing was but a toy . ’ |
| 6 | Bosch reared one off a length to have Simmons caught at gully , and Lara proceeded with all guns blazing as if victory was but a boundary away . |
| 7 | Here was a face , buried in its cloud of hair , which looked more like a mask than a living thing , a mask such as might be worn on All Souls ' Eve to scare the children , all thickly white with painted black sockets for eyes and a mouth so crudely gashed it was but a slit . |
| 8 | Legends such as the tale of the Land of White Water ( belovodie ) drove them onwards away from Europe into the dense forests where serfdom was but a memory until a voevoda 's troops stumbled upon them , making them pay taxes by growing grain for the troops or by carting goods — one of the harshest occupations in this severe land . |
| 9 | This gentle and more sensitive approach to children was but a part of a wider change in social attitudes ; a part of that belief that nature was inherently good , not evil , and what evil there was derived from man and his institutions ; an attitude which was also reflected among a growing elite in a greater sensitivity towards women , slaves and animals . |
| 10 | Constitutionally , and in theory , Parliament as a whole was sovereign since the House of Commons was but a part of Parliament and for a bill to become law the assent of Lords , Crown , and Commons were all needed . |
| 11 | In a month it was forgotten ; it was but a dream , and to-day you might search in vain for the place which enthusiastic optimists averred was the cradle of a second Winnipeg . |
| 12 | It was but a minute , effendi . |
| 13 | This was but a resumé of the botanical part of a much more detailed work to follow in due course . |
| 14 | Had he known that the sinecure into which he had expected to step was but a chimera , he would have opted for staying in the army which had , in fact , suited him . |
| 15 | However citified and sooty my surroundings , I was but a shilling bus-ride from the crags and heather of the Yorkshire Dales . |
| 16 | Benjamin explained : ‘ The King 's father was murdered when James was but a boy . |
| 17 | ‘ He was but a bearer . ’ |
| 18 | There was but a touch of the harsh , ironic but humorous Ulster accent that I knew , in the tones of his speech . |
| 19 | That was but a seed , but it was a seed well sown and matters have moved on a great deal since then . |
| 20 | And if this second branch failed , there was yet another Mortimer , Edmund 's sister Elizabeth ; and like Philippa , even if she was but a woman , she had given birth to a son , the youngest Henry Percy , Hotspur 's heir . |
| 21 | Her eyes fixed on his lips , drawn to the wide mouth as if its imprint was but a breath away , then with an effort she dragged her glance from them , half turning to avoid the intensity of his regard . |
| 22 | And it should be remembered that despite a tremendous volume of criticism that heralded the Bennett appointment as the Commandant of Pathfinder Force , it was but a murmur compared with that when he was appointed AOC of No 8 ( PFF ) Group at the tender age of 31 . |
| 23 | Her sound was but a squeak , a mumble . |
| 24 | Dora had told him that Miss Alexandra was but a month short of her twenty-second birthday and he had gone out of the kitchen , scratching his head in disbelief . |
| 25 | And from here it was but a step to suggesting that women did not take the whole thing seriously as a profession . |
| 26 | Those were the days when what are now old-time good manners and fashions were the newest of the new , and Kate Cranston 's wasp-waisted Mackintosh Tea-room , the Willow , was but a sapling in the street it was named after — Sauchiehall Street means the Street of the Willows . |
| 27 | But I remember Kielder Valley before it was flooded , when it was but a gleam in the developer 's eye ; and I remember the futile protests and the sadness of the communities who lost their homes . |
| 28 | And Matyre was but a tool , too . |
| 29 | All the magic had died from it , and it was but a husk of itself ; for all my art , it could tell me only one thing — that no one could restore it to its place except a child not yet born , and born only for that task . |