adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a common/rare disorder
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Acne is a very common skin disorder.
a rare condition
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He had a rare condition which made all his hair fall out.
a rare exception
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Books on philosophy can be quite dull, but this is a rare exception.
a rare honour (= a very special honour that is not given to many people )
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Being asked to paint a portrait for the queen is a rare honour for any artist.
a rare occasion (= used when something does not happen often )
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Only on rare occasions did she ever receive a letter.
a rare phenomenon
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Planes have occasionally disappeared in midair, but this is a rare phenomenon.
a rare/scarce commodity
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Soap was a scarce commodity during the war.
a rare/unique opportunity
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a unique opportunity to stay in a real castle
a rare/unusual event
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A sighting of a white deer is a rare event.
comparatively rare
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Crime on the island is comparatively rare .
frequent/rare/common occurrence
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Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom.
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Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.
rare breed (= there are not many of them )
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Dodd was one of that rare breed who could make the game of football look simple.
rare
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She suffers from a rare bone disease.
rare
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A number of rare flowers grow in these woods.
rare
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Many rare plants were collected from India and China.
rare
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The area contains many rare species of plants.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
as
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Here is a black middle-class man speaking: Professional blacks are treated as rare specimens by most of their white colleagues.
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But trips home for Arizona firefighters this summer promise to be as rare as a monsoon rain on Memorial Day.
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But we know that three-generational households were in fact as rare in the past as they are today.
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Perfect honesty in public life is as rare as anti-matter.
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Canaletto views of London of this quality are as rare as the Holbein.
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That's because, around Britain's rain-lashed resorts, they're about as rare as two weeks of continuous sunshine.
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The big ocean-going booms with their kite sails were becoming as rare as square-rigged schooners or clipper ships.
comparatively
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Deaths before the age of 65, so-called premature deaths, are comparatively rare .
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With comparatively rare and usually eccentric exceptions, the rich have been opposed.
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Among the mammals they are comparatively rare .
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A comparatively rare plant, Acorus is propagated with difficulty but it is a very decorative plant when used in aquariums.
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This is probably a comparatively rare occurrence for small mammals, but it certainly does occur.
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But, once again, these complications are comparatively rare , and, these days, fairly easy to treat.
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In the home, by contrast, communications other than voice telephones, are unfamiliar and comparatively rare .
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Policy analysis needs to be concerned with a flow of interrelated policies, with abrupt changes of direction a comparatively rare occurrence.
extremely
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In some species, only females appear to exist - males are either extremely rare or non-existent.
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This is an extremely rare condition, the cause of which is not known.
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International concern for these extremely rare mammals arose after thousands of grey seals were wiped out by the canine distemper virus.
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Primary pulmonary hypertension is extremely rare , afflicting about 1, 500 people in the United States.
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There are other extremely rare complications.
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But such moves have been extremely rare .
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The extremely rare use of the bare infinitive with the passive of perceptual verbs adds further proof that this is the case.
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However, end-stage renal failure caused by chronic hypokalemia is extremely rare in humans.
quite
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As the Gypsey Race meanders through the estate it encourages and supports much wildlife and some quite rare birds.
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Such formations are believed to have been used for determining the solstices and other events and are quite rare .
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Impeachment is quite rare in presidential systems.
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She's due to have a hip replacement operation in a few weeks time. Quite rare for some one so young.
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Therefore, detailed supervision was observed to be quite rare .
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Badgers are quite rare in the Doncaster area, where digging and baiting is said to be rife.
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A game that can be played by all the family is quite rare so this is sure to be popular among readers.
relatively
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Much of this ambiguity arises through relatively rare usages of the words.
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Although television and newspaper reports about malformed children abound, it is reassuring to appreciate that abnormalities are relatively rare .
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Fortunately, full-blown flu epidemics are relatively rare .
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But, given that penguins are relatively rare birds, that turned out to be prohibitively expensive.
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Others find things are worse but this is relatively rare .
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Pech-Merle also contains some of the relatively rare engravings of human female forms.
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Nevertheless, the expulsion of a bishop was a relatively rare phenomenon.
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Such refusals or unspoken enmities are relatively rare: but they always point to the heart of a civilization.
so
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These days the practice of story-telling is so rare that it has acquired the status of an art form.
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In 1983, bonuses had been so rare that the bureau did not even keep statistics on the number.
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Because neurological syphilis is so rare these days, the call for lumbar puncture is limited.
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One final, explosive question remains: Why did a virus that was once so rare suddenly burst into a global pandemic?
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This kind of love is so rare as to be almost unbelievable.
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She especially appreciated his willingness, so rare in the men she knew, to reveal and analyze his feelings.
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Such unions are so rare that, of course, they pose no real problem or threat for the legal system.
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There were examples of prion diseases, but the ones that afflicted humans were so rare as to be medical oddities.
too
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Fun board winds are too rare for experts, who should go to another of our centres.
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Apart from Mary, however, black images are too rare to arouse much comment or controversy.
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Don't throw love away, it's too rare a thing.
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Given those very general and not too rare qualities, people probably automatically help others.
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Because of the language barrier and culture shock, such insights are far too rare .
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Geothermal energy is, basically, far too rare and too low-grade for widespread economic use.
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When the new shops open, they also have that all too rare mainland commodity - customers - and plenty of them.
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This may seem like a classic New Hampshire primary moment, but it has been all too rare for the Forbes campaign.
very
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A few have summered annually since 1966, but breeding is still very rare .
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For workers in small firms employment guarantees are very rare , working hours are longer and safety records poor.
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Conservative Democrats are a very , very rare breed today in the Deep South.
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It is very rare to have this feeling with another person.
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For these serious psychiatric conditions the onset of new cases in later life appears to be very rare .
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Although changes in liver function tests are very rare , three cases of severe acute hepatitis secondary to piroxicam have been reported.
■ NOUN
bird
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We missed out on some of the rare birds .
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But, given that penguins are relatively rare birds , that turned out to be prohibitively expensive.
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As the Gypsey Race meanders through the estate it encourages and supports much wildlife and some quite rare birds .
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During the nineteenth century it retreated west of the Mississippi, and by 1880 was a rare bird everywhere.
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At the Cotswold Wildlife Park devices are fitted to their rare birds which are housed in large strengthened cages.
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He is that rare bird , the night-owl who likes talking without the prop of a strong drink in his hands.
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It is home to a number of rare birds and animals, including Grant's Bush Baby.
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She is a fairly rare bird .
books
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The library of that house contains among many other rare books , three sets of Leapor's poems.
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It's one of those rare books of comic genius that imprints itself on the brain and can never afterwards be eradicated.
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The original store and its entire stock of rare books , letters and autographs, was destroyed by fire in 1980.
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It is one of those rare books the love of which can easily turn into an addiction.
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The rare books on this subject which make it to press do not remain in the shops.
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The space devoted to rare books was very much smaller than to the secondhand.
breed
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The Farm Park specializes in showing the public rare breeds of farm animals.
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Though Manhattan sports any number of bars capable of making a great drink, the grand hotel bar is a rare breed .
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The farm at the site operates a rare breeds centre and also has a tea room with traditional fare.
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Lovelock was very rare breed in modern science.
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In this respect Anderson is a rare breed among geophysicists, an avowed generalist.
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Demand for the rare breed products is growing.
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Conservative Democrats are a very, very rare breed today in the Deep South.
case
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There are even rare cases when the employer accepts that you might be innocent and yet is entitled to dismiss you.
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In a few rare cases , lava flows on land have taken place just as the magnetic field was undergoing a reversal.
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This, however, I am sad to relate, is a very rare case .
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I have a rare case of something with a big name I can't pronounce.
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In heavy infections there may be severe cirrhosis and ascites and, in rare cases , liver failure and death.
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Head teachers say governors don't show any interest - or in the very rare case show too much.
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In rare cases where components differ in some way they will be pleased to give additional support.
event
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In fact, this is a very rare event .
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The bottom line is, these things are very, very rare events .
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A completely normal delivery is a rare event these days.
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Scientists used to think of mutations as rare events .
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Astronomers need much longer observation times and a constant altitude to pick up faint signals or observe rare events .
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The Speaker only votes in the rare event of a tie.
example
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The organ is a rare example of the Gothic Revival style from the beginning of the 18C.
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Souverain continues to offer consistently fine value with this rare example of a moderately priced California Chardonnay with character.
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Like Sylvia Plath s Edge, it is a rare example of the writer recording the act she is about to perform.
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It is a rare example of ecumenism - on a day other than a Friday - across party lines.
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Chatteris in the Cambridgeshire fens might be a rare example .
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Such survivals in the unbroken tradition of the cottage garden are now rare examples of such excellence and are very scarce indeed.
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This is a rare example of Rococo in Prague.
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The evidence is undeniably circumstantial; the rare examples of actual letting usually come in the form of licences to demise.
exception
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With rare exceptions , very few patients either understand or utilize the data on physician credentials that are available to them.
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With rare exceptions , it was also inordinately expensive.
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In nature the green form lives in green places and the yellow form in yellow and brown places, with rare exceptions .
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Order and group conformity through bureaucratic systematization became the rule of the day; disobedience and open rebellion the rare exception .
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Human rights activists say that case is a rare exception .
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With one rare exception , all such cell membranes permit translocation in only one direction.
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With rare exceptions , they were nominated essentially by the local aristocracy, particularly by the Duke of Newcastle.
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With rare exceptions , world champions are bullied and beaten into fighting shape on the streets.
gift
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It is a state of exaltation of the individual, a great and rare gift of a great and rare invigorating dream.
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He had a rare gift for casting presidential power in heroic terms.
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Unfortunately skilled chairmanship is a rare gift .
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Great Groups are made up of people with rare gifts working together as equals.
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Hicks displays a rare gift of extracting informed humour from randomly assembled streams of bemused observation.
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He is a writer of rare gifts , and among his gifts is a capacity to wound.
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But Luke turned out to have the rare gift of making his subject not merely comprehensible, but absorbingly interesting.
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But he was very systematic in his descriptions and had a rare gift for the significant detail.
instance
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Once your case is concluded you can not, except in very rare instances , return to seek further compensation.
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In rare instances , they were even given plantations and slaves of their own.
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In exceedingly rare instances , a neoplasm or arteriovenous malformation may be the cause.
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Typically the two communities exchange correspondence, gifts and, in rare instances , visits.
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In rare instances , parkinsonian patients taking levodopa experience increased libido as a side effect.
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Yet a few rare instances provide us with at least a general sense of the magnitude of this particular organizational cost.
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In rare instances , he sees the desert gently.
moment
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This is because the democracies stand at a rare moment in history.
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Even the rare moments of repose were filled with plans.
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It is a rare moment of literary shrewdness in Quills.
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Children are supervised the whole day, except for rare moments when the teacher slips away and an older student replaces him.
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Maybe never, Kirov dared to reflect, in a rare moment of optimism.
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With Stephen, for example, there were only rare moments when she would come face to face with his desperate position.
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He had noticed that in rare moments of stress she was apt to revert to her original Cockney.
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The bombing spawned a rare moment of national consensus and healing.
occasion
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It was a special moment, a rare occasion to see them walking.
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On rare occasions , owners fail to redeem their property and the county government deeds it over to the investor.
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The best strategy is to have small males who stick like glue on the rare occasions when one makes the grade.
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On rare occasions one even sings, but haltingly.
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On the rare occasion where we need the additional quality of typesetting the only thing we need to take are the disks.
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On rare occasions , they preach.
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On the very rare occasion I have fished a single caster on a size 20 hook.
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On rare occasions , some greyhounds race beyond their sixth birthday.
occurrence
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This is probably a comparatively rare occurrence for small mammals, but it certainly does occur.
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A knock on this door, up here on the fifth floor, especially at night, is a rare occurrence .
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In practice parents' associations are incredibly supportive and these problems are a rare occurrence .
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The Millers said bears in the camp are a rare occurrence .
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Clearly, crime is not a rare occurrence , but it is hidden methodically, and this raises problems for research.
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This was, of course, an extremely rare occurrence .
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Policy analysis needs to be concerned with a flow of interrelated policies, with abrupt changes of direction a comparatively rare occurrence .
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You depict rare occurrences - like Westerners paying for foster children to visit their affluent country - as a major problem.
opportunity
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These records provided a rare opportunity to study the attenuation of strong seismic waves as a means of assessing seismic hazard.
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I believe that in his treatment of me, I had the rare opportunity to see exactly how a person treats himself.
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Otherwise Signor Gismondi would not have granted you this rare opportunity .
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They are a rare opportunity to penetrate the usual wall of indifference.
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I only ask because you may miss a rare opportunity to improve you life in April, due to misplaced prejudice.
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Today is a rare opportunity for Ulster Members to have parliamentary time.
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It represents a rare opportunity to bring your own bottle, without incurring a corkage fee.
plant
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The area also has a range of fragile eco-systems and rare plants including button grass, alpine meadow and snow gum.
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A comparatively rare plant , Acorus is propagated with difficulty but it is a very decorative plant when used in aquariums.
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These include dragonflies, in particular the blue tailed damselfly, and several rare plant species.
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The hotel is full of charm and character and Penny Rawson's beloved and rare plants .
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Comments: A rare plant , needing special conditions.
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Some rare plants such as orchids are found here.
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A 73-acre site at Black Snib, near Carlisle, had been provisionally designated because of its rare plants and wildlife.
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The colour and texture of foliage is an essential part of the design, with many rare plants .
sight
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The guests fell upon the centaurs and drove them out of the country, so they are now a rare sight indeed.
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Ragged children run up to approaching cars with delight because motorized vehicles are a rare sight .
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In the big clashes it was a rare sight .
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Mountain lions, once a rare sight , are becoming almost commonplace.
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Nowadays it's a rare sight .
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A rare sight ! - empty seats in a meeting room.
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Leicester then began to indulge themselves in some fancy patterns-a rare sight .
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I felt very privileged to have stumbled upon such a rare sight .
species
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Last year rare species worth half a million pounds pounds have been stolen in raids around the country.
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Or suppose the individual is an eaglet of a rare species anxiously watched by conservationists in its nest.
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But where there are sellers there are buyers, and it was this latter rare species we had set our sights on.
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The rule is an attempt to prevent harm to pets or rare species that may wander into the traps.
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But the subject of both pieces is a rare species and one of the genuine and original characters.
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This time the threat is not to man, but to rare species of seal, por poise and sea birds.
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Another area is farming rare species .
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When I went to Webber Douglas they practically fell on any man as a rare species .
thing
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The path meanders off toward a horizon line, a rare thing in a Waid painting.
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Atomised is, however, that rare thing , a novel of ideas that comes close to working.
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Guests, callers, co-hosts -- everybody got their time to speak without being interrupted, a rare thing these days.
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He was that rare thing in any society, especially in an impecunious society under arms: a leader who was loved.
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The truly personal diary, intended for purely personal perusal, is a rare thing .
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He is that rare thing , a chap who's made a hit by being passive.
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Corbett was not only a great hunter and practical naturalist, he was also that rare thing , a natural writer.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A new law to prevent the export of rare birds is to be introduced.
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He had that rare gift of being able to impart enthusiasm to others.
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Huston is a film-maker who has achieved a rare kind of beauty in his work.
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In a rare moment of vanity, Carl removed his glasses.
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In Cholon's narrow streets, Europeans were far rarer than on the boulevards of Saigon.
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It is very rare for anyone to actually die from bee stings in this country.
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On the rare occasions when we had to work hard, we enjoyed it.
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Shannon suffers from a rare form of cancer.
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She bore her illness with rare courage.
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Snow is a rare sight here, except on the mountains.
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The palace library contains some of the rarest books in Europe.
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They're pretty rare . Only about a hundred were made.
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Tim collects rare stamps.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Black seeds are the most pungent, the most rare , and the most difficult to harvest.
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It is a state of exaltation of the individual, a great and rare gift of a great and rare invigorating dream.
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Like Sylvia Plath s Edge, it is a rare example of the writer recording the act she is about to perform.
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Second, he has the rare quality of inner toughness and great compassion.
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The Duchess of Beaufort is also mentioned as having additional rare sorts in her garden at Badminton.
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Their individuality has always made them rare , and now, perhaps, they are thinning out even more.
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This may well be one of those rare occasions when light aircraft pilots have the opportunity to shape something that affects them.
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With Stephen, for example, there were only rare moments when she would come face to face with his desperate position.