adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
absolutely/perfectly clear
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His answer was perfectly clear.
absolutely/perfectly/entirely correct (= completely correct )
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What he said was perfectly correct.
fitted...perfectly
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The uniform fitted her perfectly .
know perfectly well/full well/only too well
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He knew full well that what he was doing was dangerous.
match exactly/closely/perfectly
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The copy closely matches the original.
perfectly acceptable
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It is perfectly acceptable to sample the food before you buy.
perfectly balanced
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Nature is perfectly balanced .
perfectly flat
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a perfectly flat sandy beach
perfectly legitimate
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That’s a perfectly legitimate question.
perfectly manicured
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slim, perfectly manicured fingers
perfectly natural (= not surprising )
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It was a perfectly natural mistake to make.
perfectly normal (= completely normal )
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Her reaction to the news was perfectly normal.
perfectly rational
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I'm sure there's a perfectly rational explanation.
perfectly sane (= completely sane )
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He seems perfectly sane to me.
perfectly simple
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Well? It’s a perfectly simple question.
perfectly suitable (= completely suitable )
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The programme is perfectly suitable for children of all ages.
perfectly understandable
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He just can’t face anyone at the moment, which is perfectly understandable .
perfectly valid
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It's a perfectly valid question.
perfectly/entirely reasonable ( also eminently reasonable formal ) (= completely reasonable )
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The proposal sounds perfectly reasonable.
perfectly/quite possible (= definitely possible )
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Combining a family with a career is perfectly possible .
perfectly/quite satisfactory
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For a small amount of cream, a wire whisk is perfectly satisfactory.
quite/perfectly willing
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I told them I was perfectly willing to help.
quite/very/perfectly properly
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People are, quite properly, proud of their homes.
suit sb perfectly
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The arrangement suited me perfectly.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
acceptable
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Styles of dress which are perfectly acceptable at home may be offensive to local inhabitants or may be banned altogether.
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But if there is no punishment, it is perfectly acceptable to tell lies.
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However, although words considered in a local context may seem perfectly acceptable in the sentential context these combinations may be unlikely.
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This was perfectly acceptable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; it was not at all acceptable to the court.
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A fair amount is conducted by ministerial correspondence, a perfectly acceptable method in constitutional terms.
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Frozen duck is perfectly acceptable , but-as with most products-fresh is preferred.
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If the seller has left himself negotiating room, then this may be perfectly acceptable .
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Celibacy is perfectly acceptable , although rare.
adequate
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However, lower your aural sights a little and £200 - £300 will get you a perfectly adequate operator.
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The rest will be moved on to a perfectly adequate out-of-town portal site with ads that flash and jitter.
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Other requirements: Light: Appreciates good light from above and all round, though light from above is perfectly adequate .
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It is possible to subscribe to an updating service, but adopting your own scheme is perfectly adequate and is not expensive.
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The address book is an odd addition, given that the database is perfectly adequate for fulfilling this need.
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Boot space is perfectly adequate quite shallow but long.
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This can make the conventional approach perfectly adequate for some systems development work.
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Ardmore's runway is more generously dimensioned and better levelled than North Shore's but North Shore is perfectly adequate too.
capable
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She knew that I was perfectly capable of having the whole thing made in black leatherette if left to my own devices.
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They were perfectly capable of turning the same firepower on me as they used on my customers.
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It is perfectly capable of wiping out even the largest enemy unit.
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An informed public is perfectly capable of deciding whether contributions accepted by a lawmaker should disqualify him or her from office.
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She was perfectly capable of running her own firm - she simply made a reasoned choice not to.
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And Lucy was perfectly capable of saying do stay the night.
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He knew Ellen was with her and was perfectly capable of tracking down their whereabouts.
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Since they are pure-bred cells, they are perfectly capable of meiosis.
clear
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The course of this important trackway across sheet 145 is perfectly clear .
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The air outside was perfectly clear , though the windows were filthy.
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Make it perfectly clear you are neutral and totally disinterested.
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And on the pennant, perfectly clear , the single letter: W, for Winslow.
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The prospective meaning of to is thus perfectly clear in this use.
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The meaning of the play's unusual title will become perfectly clear to the audience, says director Dan Maher.
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It was perfectly clear that Alexander Vass considered her remark to be a gross impertinence.
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From the tone of his voice, it was perfectly clear that his decision was not open to negotiation.
competitive
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In a perfectly competitive industry, the market solves two connected problems.
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And a difference between price and marginal cost can make behavior very different from that in a perfectly competitive model.
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Unfortunately from this point of view not all industries are perfectly competitive .
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Our concern in this chapter is with the functioning of perfectly competitive markets.
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In practice, the conditions for perfectly competitive labour and product markets do not apply.
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Suppose that the union lifts the level of wages above the perfectly competitive market clearing wage, thus creating some unemployment.
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Each market is a free, unregulated market and is perfectly competitive .
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The neo-classical view is that a perfectly competitive economy always tends towards its full employment equilibrium position.
content
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A rabbit which up to that time may have been perfectly content to sit it out suddenly has more grounds for fear.
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It was a hangout of the privileged classes, smug, snobbish, and perfectly content to remain small.
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The rest of the band appeared perfectly content to let this happen.
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The larger southern Episcopal element was perfectly content to keep bishops three thousand miles away.
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She was perfectly content and regarded the liberated woman as a creature to be pitied.
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The baby was lying on his back in his crib, perfectly content .
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But she told me she would have been perfectly content if they had not taken this course.
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Until then he appeared perfectly content with his placid existence.
flat
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The lower cut must be perfectly flat and angled to match the oblique cut on the rootstock.
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You saw a perfectly flat , formless nothing.
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Don't be over-concerned if the ground in front of you doesn't seem perfectly flat .
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The surface need not be perfectly flat or smooth.
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Make sure the lining is lying perfectly flat and smooth against blind fabric and square to it.
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I can flood the paper using this frame and be sure that once dry it will return to a perfectly flat surface.
good
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There is a perfectly good way of doing so on television.
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There is a perfectly good answer to that question, it only takes a moment to think of it.
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Ram a couple of kidneys into a perfectly good bottle of vodka, and give it to him.
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Apart from providing her with an excuse to respond to his card, the idea in itself was a perfectly good one.
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Sony's is perfectly good , but the voices are further forward and the orchestra has a less sumptuous bloom.
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All this space and they get to shit on a perfectly good balcony?
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This makes perfectly good sense, that that understanding is organically linked to their studies.
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Some of them, in fact, were perfectly good .
happy
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The hospitals are the ones that introduced this legislation, and they are perfectly happy with the review process.
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She had been perfectly happy at Group.
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He was perfectly happy to stand apart from his colleagues.
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Those perfectly happy in their affections never read novels, because real love is so much more fascinating than that described.
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I told myself he was no sick cat, but I could see that he was not perfectly happy .
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Bruno felt perfectly happy in that bed; he seemed to forget all his worries.
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He looks perfectly happy , his past and future far away on this festive afternoon.
healthy
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She looked perfectly healthy , but Frankie was not convinced.
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He denied that perfectly healthy horses make it to slaughter because he can make more by reselling to somebody else.
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Given just one type of seed, they would always eat it and be perfectly healthy .
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But necrotizing fasciitis can strike perfectly healthy , fastidious people as well.
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However, one of them disappeared overnight, after being perfectly healthy during the day.
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Yes, but this is not the explanation in many cases, where the animal is perfectly healthy in all other respects.
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This does not necessarily mean sick animals - many are perfectly healthy , just unwanted.
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A kidney, thought to be perfectly healthy was transplanted into a patient on chronic dialysis.
legal
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If you still have concerns about confidentiality, you can take the test using a false name - this is perfectly legal .
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All of this, by the way, was perfectly legal .
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Killigrew protested that his first marriage, at least, that to Mary, had been perfectly legal .
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But production of such cosmetics for export remains perfectly legal .
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Everything was perfectly legal and aboveboard.
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As these metals came from natural sources, such a move was perfectly legal .
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She uses perfectly legal ways to gather public information about the homes that many Washington insiders like to keep secret.
legitimate
▪
The Bucharest police force sees its action as perfectly legitimate .
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Or was there a perfectly legitimate explanation?
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Elwood was carried off after a perfectly legitimate but massive hit delivered by the Springbok centre.
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But when the culprits were identified, it turned out that their activities were perfectly legitimate , if a little unusual.
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It is perfectly legitimate for the police to have that information.
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This may be perfectly legitimate but not all problems can be referred away. 2 Refer the parents for marriage guidance counselling.
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This is a perfectly legitimate inductive inference.
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Their function is to supply realism or local colour, and for these purposes their use is perfectly legitimate .
natural
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It wasn't strange, but perfectly natural to be in Sien's company, her and the children.
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It seemed perfectly natural that the centre and bow areas of our raft were permanently awash.
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This is, as Morrissey well knows, a perfectly natural human condition.
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Both Duvall and Jones have reached that level of acting where it all seems perfectly natural .
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It was all perfectly natural , or should have been.
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Pregnancy is a perfectly natural physical state, remember?
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But Mr Mellor said it was a perfectly natural request to make.
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Morrissey and Marr found songwriting easy and perfectly natural .
normal
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A case of perfectly normal metastasis.
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My information processing is perfectly normal .
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It's despair that perfectly normal young men can be made vicious and evil because they've won a lot of money.
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Casper says they had a perfectly normal conversation.
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This is perfectly normal when the body goes through the physiological changes which are often brought about by the Technique.
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Peter was just two at the time, a perfectly normal child.
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But given heavy doses of baking soda he began to recover, and was perfectly normal three days later.
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I had told myself I was going to have a perfectly normal day.
obvious
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That was perfectly obvious from the start.
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I responded, stating what I thought should be perfectly obvious to my father, and turned to reenter our building.
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It is perfectly obvious that the choices made by creative social actors are limited by the practical resources available to them.
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It was perfectly obvious that Mr Schofield had gone for good.
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Why the classic novel should have collaborated with the spirit of capitalism is perfectly obvious to Robyn.
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That's perfectly obvious to anyone, isn't it?
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It was perfectly obvious he had already been active in discussing the matter on everybody's mind.
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It was perfectly obvious from the accounts that the company was in deep trouble.
ordinary
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It was a perfectly ordinary leg from a shop dummy.
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Here, the perversions are perfectly ordinary ones.
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They appear perfectly ordinary under normal light, but disappear under flash photography.
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She is in fact perfectly ordinary , with nothing to distinguish her from a thousand others.
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There would be, without a doubt, some perfectly ordinary explanation.
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They looked perfectly ordinary , and they turned in through the gates and went up the drive.
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At dinner in the garden one evening, for instance, two perfectly ordinary businessmen suddenly burst into a Verdi duet.
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An expensive handbag lay on the table, and she was reading the morning paper in a perfectly ordinary way.
possible
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Similarly, it is perfectly possible for John to have examined the legs of the table.
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Even more extreme interpretations are perfectly possible in the courts.
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It is, of course, perfectly possible for a sentence to exhibit semantic and grammatical deviance simultaneously: 7.
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It is perfectly possible to replace the hot spots in a Land Rover cylinder head.
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That seemed to me to be taken for granted and perfectly possible .
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But that would be perfectly possible without delaying Mrs. Bidwell's arrival.
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On paper this may sound like splitting hairs, but in practice it is perfectly possible to make the difference clear.
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It is perfectly possible to conceive of groups or individuals who have power without actually ruling in the official, visible sense.
proper
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It seemed, after all, a perfectly proper arrangement and one that was, in a way, almost professional.
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There is a perfectly proper sense in which the lung-fish endeavoured to regain the water.
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His letters of 24 July 1970, and 28 October 1970, were perfectly proper .
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This sense has a perfectly proper use in science.
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That seemed to me to be a perfectly proper use of what the company had to offer.
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Consequently, the idea began to spread that it was perfectly proper for Christians to be involved with pop and rock music.
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All hon. Members understand why that was a perfectly proper arrangement.
reasonable
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It would be perfectly reasonable for the police to check their address and details such as car ownership on the computer.
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These are perfectly reasonable questions, after all, you will be paying the bills.
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Tinfoil Barbs would be perfectly reasonable .
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She said the news clippings she sent to friends were a perfectly reasonable way to correspond.
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Whatever the cause of the delay, the solicitor should answer your perfectly reasonable request for an explanation.
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I could be perfectly reasonable up to a point, but Cynthia Kay had gone too far.
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It would be perfectly reasonable to keep them all in the same genus.
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To my mind, it was an unreasonable expectation, but to theirs, it was only natural and perfectly reasonable .
safe
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So for the trick to work the parent must always be perfectly safe .
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When we arrived at a perfectly safe position, we halted to take an account of damages.
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Basic butane picnic stoves are a perfectly safe , reliable and inexpensive choice for mild weather trips.
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I think he decided the jewels were perfectly safe right where they were.
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As for the 1991 cruising season, most of the Med is still perfectly safe to visit.
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The point is, of course, that for hundreds of years the villages have been perfectly safe .
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Maggie realised that she felt perfectly safe with him.
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The descent, like a big dipper, is exhilarating but perfectly safe .
satisfactory
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For a small amount of cream a wire whisk is perfectly satisfactory and just as quick as an electric beater.
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It is a perfectly satisfactory word processor but lacks the sparkle of many of the currently available rivals.
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This sounds unattractive but is perfectly satisfactory in use.
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I believe that it is possible to have a perfectly satisfactory single market without a single currency.
simple
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There's a perfectly simple method of proving this.
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This was supposed to be an upper-level class, and the students seemed unable to interpret a perfectly simple text.
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Paul's murder, if it is murder, is perfectly simple .
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There had to be a perfectly simple explanation to all this - if only she could think what it was.
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The chances are we shall turn up some perfectly simple motive.
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These facts were undisputed and one might have supposed the case to be a perfectly simple and straight forward one.
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He loved her and trusted her understanding - and that made the choice perfectly simple after all.
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It is all perfectly simple , and delightfully automatic and unpremeditated.
true
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It is perfectly true that modern factory-farming can sometimes be accused of engendering cruelty, waste, pollution and unsafe foods.
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Nevertheless, although generalizations arrived at by legitimate inductions can not be guaranteed to be perfectly true , they are probably true.
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It is perfectly true that Blake did have a battery-operated radio in his cell which worked on medium and long waves only.
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It is perfectly true - for this hotel is also an antique shop.
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It is perfectly true that an ad is useless if no one notices it.
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And actually that was perfectly true .
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Now it is perfectly true that some families remained in the same district for hundreds of years.
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All this is, of course, perfectly true .
understandable
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For example, the speech we hear over a telephone line is perfectly understandable .
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This idolatrous crowd postulates an ideal worthy of itself and appropriate to its nature, that is perfectly understandable .
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That's perfectly understandable , but it's not good sense.
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Some at least of the leading Romans felt and behaved in a way which seemed to him perfectly understandable and eminently sensible.
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This is perfectly understandable if in fact after passives the to infinitive evokes a mental construct.
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In terms of his own situation and interests this attitude is perfectly understandable .
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This clause appears perfectly understandable from the viewpoint of a supplier of drivers.
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That was perfectly understandable , because what we were proposing was so essentially and uniquely horrible.
valid
▪
The time ranges associated with these compositions are rather approximate, but are in general still perfectly valid .
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One is of course free to do so, and from certain perspectives, it is perfectly valid to do so.
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Perhaps women choose this style because it fits with their own, perfectly valid interactional or social goals.
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This is a perfectly valid deduction.
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But consent by a person in Hobbes's state of nature can be perfectly valid .
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That argument, by the way, I am not rejecting; it is a perfectly valid response.
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But it still didn't stop me having a perfectly valid opinion on the parlous state of contemporary kits.
well
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Equally, the embassies know perfectly well that all their signals traffic is monitored.
■ VERB
balance
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Natasha gazed at her with an expression in which caution and disdain were perfectly balanced .
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You rarely see that people are perfectly balanced on these.
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A rudderless boat must be perfectly balanced if it is to follow a straight course.
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It is perfectly balanced to satisfy a growing appetite.
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Balancing basic food ingredients Grass is not perfectly balanced for all types of horses all year round either.
fit
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They always fit perfectly , look painted on, and some have caused quite a furore in the past.
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The martini perfectly fits the bill because of its simplicity.
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John Bowes perfectly fits that bill.
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His cerebral sound fits perfectly with the cool musings of Mulligan and Baker.
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They had altered the dress so that it fitted perfectly .
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The roll fits perfectly well if you stand it on the roller and lean it against the wall.
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Until that moment Sabour had seemed to fit perfectly into the demoralized atmosphere of the classroom.
form
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It had small but perfectly formed rear limbs projecting a few inches from its body.
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They were perfectly formed , with no blemishes, no insect or fungus damage.
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His voice was sonorous, and long, flourished sentences came from his mouth perfectly formed .
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A perfectly formed loaf brings the same satisfaction to its baker as does a perfectly thrown pot to a potter.
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Women and children were lined up in a half-circle facing an old, perfectly formed oak tree.
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Did Mrs Dumas see a smile on a perfectly formed little man as he fell into her pail?
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The exposed hands of the Saint, only slightly darker than normal, appear perfectly formed .
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The hairdo displayed her ears, which were almost perfectly formed except for the one minor asymmetry that hardly anyone noticed.
know
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I knew perfectly well when I allowed Karen Parsons to seduce me that I was not acting rightly.
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The members know perfectly well that they will be beaten over the head with any yes vote at the next election.
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You know perfectly well I can't.
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Fong knew perfectly well that he had 632 shillings ninepence only in the bank and that the cheque would bounce.
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In everyday life we talk about things being good and bad, and we know perfectly well what we mean.
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I knew perfectly well that I had anorexia, but I did not see it as something pathological.
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She said it all, knowing perfectly well none of it was heard, and then she slept a little.
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Hera knew perfectly well that there was a reason for this odd occurrence, and instantly suspected her husband.
match
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Crossover distortion is actually due to the fact that the two halves of the circuit are not perfectly matched .
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Computerised records ensure that colours are perfectly matched on return visits.
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Everything matched perfectly , even her pink beads.
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Their brown colouration perfectly matches the decaying leaves around them, their blotches and lines disrupt their outlines.
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Whether stylish laminate, natural wood or high-gloss finish, the Miele Specialist can tailor a kitchen to perfectly match your requirements.
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The simplest method of all, where body concealment is concerned, is to match perfectly the colour of the background.
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Her gorgeously drowsy voice is perfectly matched to shimmering, twilight atmospherics.
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The girl friendly school Unfortunately the pattern of option choice and attitude differences is not perfectly matched within each school.
seem
▪
However, although words considered in a local context may seem perfectly acceptable in the sentential context these combinations may be unlikely.
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It seemed perfectly natural that the centre and bow areas of our raft were permanently awash.
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For the watching world, she smiled and laughed, seeming perfectly delighted with her husband and newfound status.
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Still, given our fondness for gunning each other down, fearing the sight of blood seems perfectly sound.
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He seems perfectly at home here, with the rest of the house all quiet, and he's clearly been busy.
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Both Duvall and Jones have reached that level of acting where it all seems perfectly natural.
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Don't be over-concerned if the ground in front of you doesn't seem perfectly flat.
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And it somehow seemed perfectly coordinated with the stadium, the ground, early evening and the four of us.
suit
▪
They are thus perfectly suited to the analysis of our beliefs about causal chains or sequences.
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I used the bike extensively around London and it was perfectly suited to dealing the city's often poor roads.
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Declan McGonagle has a background perfectly suited to his new post as director of the museum.
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The heavy boughs and dark leaves of the copper beech that spread over the drive perfectly suited her mood of despair.
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The role of Logan is perfectly suited to Kingsley's gifts for control and stillness.
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She had the confidence to go for something outside her immediate experience, but which she was perfectly suited to.
understand
▪
She ruled out topical references and jokes, understanding perfectly that her executive producer was incapable of appreciating either.
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Had there been a language in which we could have made ourselves perfectly understood , we would have left them all Christians.
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I did not understand perfectly what the connection was but I felt guilt was involved - and a sense of obligation.
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People were screaming at each other without using words, and everyone understood perfectly .
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A procedure which anyone with any pretensions to correct behaviour would perfectly understand .
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We are of sound mind and understand perfectly well that if we attack you, you will respond the same way.
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I understand perfectly your desire for anonymity.
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I understood perfectly well what Jack was saying.
will
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They were perfectly willing to have a convoy 2 miles long wait while they pedaled across these bridges.
work
▪
What is interesting about Michel Blanc's movie is that much of it works perfectly well.
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Many people are unaware of the recall because the bikes can work perfectly before the crank suddenly breaks off.
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Some bisexual relationships work perfectly well as long as everyone knows the score.
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All the other sounds worked perfectly , including a nifty series of sound clips, from toilets to submarines.
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Nothing in psychology hopes ever to work perfectly .
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Simple suction is out, because gecko feet work perfectly , even in a vacuum.
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No researcher is so wise that all plans work perfectly .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be well/ideally/perfectly positioned
best/well/ideally/perfectly etc suited to/for sth
▪
Boar chops are best suited to grilling or sauteing.
▪
If I were a free agent, those are the places I would go, a place best suited for my needs.
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It is not however so well suited to an intensive, detailed study of spoken language.
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Nevertheless, it is an early maturing variety well suited to the long ripening period of a northern wine region.
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Secondly, the adversary nature of the adjudicative process may not be well suited to this area.
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The farmer's wife was well suited to tackling this considerable undertaking.
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Use the systems best suited to their talent, both offensively and defensively.
▪
We have large quantities of plutonium already separated and in forms ideally suited for nuclear weapons.
know full/perfectly well
▪
I know perfectly well that metastases are not just a characteristic of malignant cells, spreading from organ to organ.
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In everyday life we talk about things being good and bad, and we know perfectly well what we mean.
▪
Oh, I glory in inconsistencies, as you know full well .
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Ought we to think less of Johnson for agreeing because he knew full well that he could influence Boswell?
▪
She knew perfectly well he didn't trust her.
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The public know full well that the Labour party taxes and spends, taxes and spends.
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You know perfectly well I can't.
▪
You know perfectly well that women get depressed at - at certain times.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪
After two years in Spain, Kate spoke the language perfectly .
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He was perfectly dressed in a dark suit and tie.
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She's always perfectly dressed.
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The airplane was standing perfectly still.
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The coffee machine seems to work perfectly now.
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They're not welcome here. We made that perfectly clear.
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They had thrown out a perfectly good stereo.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪
His beautiful dark-gray suit hung on his trim body, perfectly .
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Not only did it work perfectly , but the output was indistinguishable from the 550C.
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Or was there a perfectly legitimate explanation?
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People were screaming at each other without using words, and everyone understood perfectly .
▪
Some bisexual relationships work perfectly well as long as everyone knows the score.
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There would be, without a doubt, some perfectly ordinary explanation.
▪
This is awkward, for no regulation works perfectly or does quite what it was meant to.
▪
This is, as Morrissey well knows, a perfectly natural human condition.