adverb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
barely/hardly/scarcely above a whisper (= only a little louder than a whisper )
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'Not me', he said, in a voice barely above a whisper.
barely/hardly/scarcely distinguishable
can hardly/scarcely believe sth
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I could scarcely believe my luck.
can hardly/scarcely imagine (= find it difficult to imagine )
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He could scarcely imagine what living in such poor conditions must have been like.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
able
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After getting a double first at Oxford he married Sara, scarcely able to believe his luck.
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She drove across the bridge into Cookham, scarcely able to see for tears of shock and anger.
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Peter stood for a moment, dumbfounded, scarcely able to contain his thoughts.
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Mrs Mallory stepped out of the doctor's into the sunlight and bounded down the hill, scarcely able to contain her glee.
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Hugh was now wandering in his speech and scarcely able to stand without Marian's help.
distinguishable
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Conversely, the smallest market towns were scarcely distinguishable from populous villages.
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Interior space is scarcely distinguishable from exterior.
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It was still not yet five o'clock, and the trees themselves were scarcely distinguishable in the semidarkness.
surprising
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Since the principal function of grammar is to indicate how units of meaning are to be combined, this is scarcely surprising .
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Such a preference is scarcely surprising but may be difficult to accommodate in specially designated homes and hostels.
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Which, given the way Wally rambles on, is scarcely surprising .
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It is scarcely surprising that popes did not like calling Councils.
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It is scarcely surprising that opt-out schools are apprehensive.
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Given that people had no rational basis for choosing among candidates, it was scarcely surprising they used one they deemed natural.
■ VERB
begin
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She could scarcely begin to think at all.
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Slothrop's search, however, has scarcely begun before he realizes that he himself is under investigation.
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Why, we've scarcely begun , and already we have a few clients.
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Last year's return to democracy has scarcely begun to reverse the country's decline.
believe
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I can scarcely believe the King is dead and think it just a rumour.
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And even people like Martinez, who scarcely believed in the ideal, were reluctant to act on their convictions.
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Even the Lions players could scarcely believe what they were doing.
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I could scarcely believe that Mones was only thirty-five.
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She could scarcely believe her eyes.
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I could scarcely believe my eyes.
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Baltusnikas shot wide, scarcely believing he had so much room in the Republic's penalty area.
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He could scarcely believe his good fortune.
find
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MacDonald could scarcely find enough party stalwarts with the ability or experience to fill even the major posts.
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Troops could scarcely find dry ground on which to pitch their tents.
hear
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He scarcely heard her soft voice going on about paraffin heaters and electrical wall fans.
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Her voice is so low I can scarcely hear what she is saying.
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She scarcely heard in her humiliation.
know
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Now she scarcely knew what to think.
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I scarcely knew the woman, but it seemed clear to me that she was suddenly operating by another set of premises.
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Now she clutched at it helplessly, scarcely knowing what to do with it.
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When she passed him on the stairs his expression told her he scarcely knew she was there.
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With every step her energy crackled; scarcely knowing at first what she said, she found herself reciting the lines from Cymbeline.
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So had the provinces, which scarcely knew how to struggle for local political and cultural rights.
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She scarcely knew these women and told herself that she didn't wish to.
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I scarcely knew what I was saying or doing.
mention
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A biography of Sarah Pugh, littered with names, scarcely mentions hers.
need
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It scarcely needs to be observed that from the viewpoint of the defendant's country these arguments are unacceptable.
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Here, it scarcely needs stating, we have in mind a traditional, negative conception of liberty.
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Standing on tiptoe, she arched her lower body to his scarcely needing the encouragement of his hand pressing against her spine.
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It scarcely needs to be said that these are equations without solutions.
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The parallel with Francisco Franco scarcely needs pointing out.
notice
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The great Mystery Miguel would scarcely notice if one hysterical female were missing.
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Of course, he had also collected a fair number of stings, but he had scarcely noticed them.
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All this time she had scarcely noticed there were other people in the car with her.
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I scarcely notice that my feet are cold and wet.
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Wycliffe rang with timidity; even so the silence he had scarcely noticed until now was brutally shattered.
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I scarcely notice that he would be considered handsome, even desirable.
see
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He was devoted to the Prince, but he had served him for ten years and his wife had scarcely seen him.
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Already visibility was so restricted that neighboring ships in the formation could scarcely see each other.
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The rain came on harder, and what with that and the darkness, Ruth could scarcely see anything.
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Some of Donaldson's punting was shrewdly angled and flighted but the wings scarcely saw the ball.
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You could scarcely see anyone had been there.
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I have scarcely seen more beautiful mosaics anywhere.
seem
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Does he really have a chance against a master-campaigner who nowadays scarcely seems to put a foot wrong?
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By golly, it scarcely seemed possible, but he had done it again.
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He seemed scarcely even to register the changing faces of aupair girls.
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But he scarcely seemed to notice any of these ministrations.
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Most of the time he seemed scarcely present, adding little to family conversations.
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Positivist criminology, on the other hand, seemed scarcely to recognise it at all.
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Journalists, likewise, scarcely seem reticent in their claims.
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He scarcely seemed to hear what she said.
speak
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They would just stand there, motionless, their eyes fixed on the horizon, scarcely speaking to each other.
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One can scarcely speak of unity in national literature.
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He had scarcely spoken , and I had taken his silence as acquiescence or passivity.
touch
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He did it nimbly, his feet scarcely touching the narrow steel treads.
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But Hanoi and Haiphong were almost totally unscathed, and the nearby countryside seemed to have been scarcely touched .
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Fanshawe had been lying on his face and the fire had scarcely touched him.
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He had half emptied Woolacombe's decanter, and yet his head was scarcely touched .
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Tired, drawn and bruised that he was, even the hard-earned pint by his right hand was scarcely touched .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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There can scarcely be any doubt that Sullivan is guilty.
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We've seen scarcely a drop of rain for over six months.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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He awoke, and it seemed that he had scarcely closed his eyes.
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I scarcely notice that my feet are cold and wet.
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I have scarcely been myself since and I almost hate the sight of a gun.
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It can scarcely be imagined that he would have opposed the Philadelphia Museum's immensely well-conceived plan.
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It was like striking gold or falling rapturously in love: he possessed secret knowledge that his Germantown friends could scarcely imagine.
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Mutual deference could scarcely be carried farther.
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They sat at one of the marble-topped tables and ordered coffee from a bored waitress who scarcely spared them a glance.
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They were scarcely two hundred yards distant; yet such was the gloom that they could not be clearly distinguished.