How To Use Barely In A Sentence

He pulled himself up and stumbled to the bathroom, where he turned on the cold tap and collapsed at the bottom of the shower, barely awake.
They had barely been fed and their heads were shaved. The Sun
Still, the crêpe was even oilier - thick, flabby and barely hot, with the flavour of an onion-soaked flannel. Times, Sunday Times
Spaghetti carbonara and giant, ricotta-stuffed ravioli in an earthy sauté of porcini mushrooms, barely touched with tomato, both did credit to the pasta roster.
And also barely functioning as an able-minded human being. IN ODDER NEWS: Kathy Griffin’s Emmy Speech, Uncensored | Best Week Ever

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Those qualities were instead projected on to a father he had barely known and a figure he invented in fiction. Times, Sunday Times
His voice sunk to a barely perceptible level.
Surely one of the agonizing attributes of our post – September 11 age is the unending need to reaffirm realities that have been proved, and proved again, but just as doggedly denied by those in power, forcing us to live trapped between two narratives of present history, the one gaining life and color and vigor as more facts become known, the other growing ever paler, brittler, more desiccated, barely sustained by the life support of official power. 'The Moment Has Come to Get Rid of Saddam'
The wild subspecies that gave up their DNA for these tests still exist, though barely.
Dahl came to admire him, although he described him as “quite an erk,”** and was shocked to discover that he could barely draw. Storyteller
Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town, I noticed that the family was still there, standing outside the closed gas station.
Find supermarket shopping almost impossible now, barely able to walk let alone push a trolley so did my first internet shop last night. AND GOD CREATED THE AU PAIR
we were so far back in the theater, we could barely read the subtitles
It has barely issued a reprimand or fine in years. Times, Sunday Times
Inflation did eventually accelerate, and tight-money measures have barely begun to halt it.
And workers 'wages barely budged, meaning consumers will probably stay somewhat cautious in the months ahead. Latest Headlines - ABC 7 News
The streets and buildings display barely no signage. Times, Sunday Times
Who will feed those kids if they go to school and their parents are working in the dingiest of atmospheres to gather barely enough food to feed themselves?
But it is a tricky lesson to teach when the banks and building societies are paying barely any interest to savers. Times, Sunday Times
I was barely even seventeen yet and so I could not get a job as a schoolmistress or a governess.
She could barely pay the rent off of the measly tips that the patrons were giving, and her wages were too low to provide her with any material comfort.
His hand was frozen, suspended in mid-air, the necklace barely dangling off it.
These immortal ideas, things barely perceptible are the most precious things of life.
The trail becomes more precipitous as we plod steadily across a long ridge that is barely discernible from the fog folding around us. Times, Sunday Times
The islanders could barely survive without an export crop.
As for the remaining four songs, 'Wrapped Around Your Finger' and 'Tea In The Sahara' are doomy ciphers, the former possibly about marriage, the latter open to a handful of interpretations, none of them exactly upbeat, while 'Synchronicity I' is a trifle explaining the title concept and the monster hit 'Every Breath You Take', is ostensibly a trite love song with it's icy and obsessive core just barely concealed. Synchronicity
As you are painfully aware, when it comes to being handy, I can barely work a shower curtain.
After a particularly harrowing battle where the squad is able to overcome a Nazi ambush Zab is asked about what happened and can barely remember the event. Current Movie Reviews, Independent Movies - Film Threat
Her skirt was orange pleated, and barely covered the tops of her thighs.
The meeting ended with the correct formalities, and barely concealed mutual mistrust. JOSIAH THE GREAT: The True Story of The Man Who Would Be King
One week after this story was written, the top 20 pop albums in the United States included records by fresh-faced adolescents the Beatles, teen sensation Bob Seger, twentysomething heartthrob Frank Sinatra, a barely-postpubescent but preternaturally-talented Bob Marley, recent high school graduate Rod Stewart, former boy band member Johnny Cash, newly-discovered youth sensation Barry White, and a band whose name is synonymous with "teenage rebellion": Pink Floyd. Sirilyan Diary Entry
It is amazing to see a patient who can barely move his or her extremities put forth the effort to wiggle his or her fingers in my dog's soft fur.
We ended up buying a GE front-loading pair, and they work like a charm (so quiet -- you can barely tell the washer is on!). Archive 2006-08-01
Can Bruce figure out a way to stop an unstoppable foe when he can barely get out of bed?
ducktail" was barely visible from the cabin, standing in sharp contrast to the GT3's rear spoiler that dominates - and obstructs - the rearward view. Autoblog
All she could hear was the barely audible swoosh of water going in and out the windows.
No attempt to rebook, no real apology, barely more than a sentence really. The Sun
They barely gave me a nod when I poked my head up over the side of the truck.
I had barely come in when the telephone rang.
I barely restrained myself from hitting him.
She was a wisp of a woman, barely taller than my shoulders, with silvery hair and deep blue eyes.
The pain keeps hitting me in waves, ranging from barely tolerable to excruciating.
And, like any good schoolteacher, she modulates her voice to great effect; during moments of particular drama, she is known for speaking to juries in a barely audible whisper.
Barely 12 or 13 inmates had turned up during 1998-2003 for tailoring and stenography.
Indeed, it was Captain William Fall, out in the distance, just barely visible to the naked eye.
They beat a Lions side which barely put up a fight; this is the weakest Australian side for many years; and a Springboks side still in transition came very close indeed to beating them in New Zealand and won the two games on aggregate.
Women were banned from competing and spectating at the original Games, and shot put is barely 100 years old, so the direct linkage with the ancient past was tenuous.
In fact, this barely even felt like a movie about animals - it just happened to feature a horse prominently.
My sister and I could barely contain ourselves, we thought it was so funny and ingenious.
All the precious stones, except moonstone, opal and sphene, have at least the hardness of quartz, and can barely be scratched by metals, even by hard steel. Scientific American Supplement, No. 1082, September 26, 1896
Severe vomiting, diarrhoea, rectal tenesmus: unable to keep standing, she urinates under herself; the pupils are dilated, the eyes haggard; complete mind-blindness, near-total failure of reflexes, deep unconsciousness, breathing dyspneic, heart-beat faint and very fast, pulse barely perceptible; dead in thirty-six hours. Charles Richet - Nobel Lecture
I squinted into the darkness, barely distinguishing anything.
It is now barely worthwhile for multinationals to fund research into tropical diseases. Times, Sunday Times
For example, the dark blue triangles on the pink background of the rosettes are barely perceptible in the old photograph and may be missed entirely if the viewer is not aware of the value shift.
When I make dinner now and my children barely touch a bite, I see dollar bills going in the trash as I scrape the dinner dishes after the meal.
It's the reverse of birthdays, this laying out outside the meats and cheese, cruets of oil standing sentry at the table and each guest barely able to breathe in the funerary wreaths of citronella haze.
Nestled in terra cotta, thick, gutsy prosciutto barely girdles hunks of luxuriantly gooey mozzarella bocconcini that have been roasted into a delicious taffy, the perfect bonbon to chomp on during a film by the Taviani brothers.
I pulled over to the emergency lane, barely able to see the other cars on the road.
There was some barely audible whispering and my boss spoke again, only this time in a deeper voice.
I've even been damp dusting rather than just a quick polish but it's barely touching the surface.
Obviously, she hadn't been watching the aristocrats around her with their barely formed simpers.
It also helped that the plate was huge - so big, in fact, that Vicky and I could barely finish half of it.
Meanwhile, in another small saucepan, combine pearl onions and sugar with water to cover barely.
Going out with a thirtysomething when you are barely into your twenties is the coolest thing a man can do. Times, Sunday Times
To others this would look icy, but Aradia knew her best friend was barely controlling her temper.
For Cowen, the central economic reality of the past three decades is that median household incomes have barely budged, even after adjusting for inflation and other factors. Much of nation's recent growth may have been a mirage
Surely, something freakish would happen—a slow roller through the wickets, some fluke fly ball barely clearing the Green Monster, a sure groundout bouncing crazily around the infield—something confirming the Sox impending doom usually happened right about now. One Season
European Powers is exhausted on Poland, and that neither pity nor shame will induce them to break a thankless neutrality, here; but in the face of all barely probable contingencies, I doubt no more of the ultimate result, than I doubt of the ultimate performance of the justice of God. Border and Bastille
The rain was so heavy during the ammunition drop that the aircraft hovering on top of the trees could barely be seen from the ground.
Maybe you suffer from insomnia and barely sleep a wink every night.
Uphill it's no slogger either, with barely a jiggle of movement from the shock, even with the bike set to 'freeride' amounts of sag. Singletrack World
There is barely anything more soul-destroying than a no-frills flight. Times, Sunday Times
But it's worth remembering that, barely a century ago, the great male fear was not of alpha females with intimidatingly large salaries but their polar opposite: women were seen, rather like immigrant labour now, as dangerously liable to undercut men's wages by doing the same work for less. Young women are now earning more than men – that's not sexist, just fair | Gaby Hinsliff
On face, arms, body, brow, wherever dark hair needs paling Jolen makes it barely visible.
It wasn't that it grossed him out terribly, but he had heard so many mistletoe comments over the past week that he could barely contain himself.
This corrupt and bureaucratized organization, which by its own account formally represents barely 12 percent of Venezuelan workers, is among the closest allies of the US AFL-CIO.
They crumbled to our mighty power with our losses barely reaching through the double digits.
Luke slides his offset spatula under each one and then, as he goes to retract it, adds the little flourish, the barely perceptible twist of the wrist, that makes his work look simultaneously more mechanical and more balletic. The Sorcerer’s Apprentices
This was done by making some dummy rounds with the bullet seated way out and then gradually increasing the depth until the gun would just barely close.
He is barely recognisable among the grime, dressed in filthy rags and as anaemic and leaden as his surroundings.
My nerves are almost completely balanced by the relief I'm feeling at soon being free of her, but as it is I'm jittering and barely worth talking to.
Watch the last 2 Steve Jobs presentations for Apple New Product Releases (Motorola Itunes Phone, Black Ipod Nano, Itunes 4. 9-5.1, Harry Potter Audio Books Exclusive, Ipod Video, Skinnier Imac 20 Media Centre, Lost + Desperate Housewives on Ipod day after they are on TV for $1.99) - The Nano has barely been out a month and its a household name, at least where there is a teenager, or geek gadgeteer at heart. Disney, ABC : "I know these guys..."
We barely arrived than it was time to leave.
They had barely begun before the court adjourned to a nearby carpet for sunset prayers. Times, Sunday Times
Most of those that remain survive on barely a bowl of sadza - mealie-meal porridge - a day. Times, Sunday Times
What is of interest, however, is that he has suffered barely a whisper of criticism from the left wing media or political classes.
Much of the policing so far is unobjectionable in its goals and motivation but barely acceptable in the costs to innocent civilian bystanders.
The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.
My children bring me great joy (especially as the little ones vacillate between squirming with curiosity and tittering with barely kept secrets in anticipation of Christmas).
You've barely unpacked your holiday suitcase. Times, Sunday Times
The fledgling cable operators barely registered in the public consciousness and digital satellite broadcasting was years away.
Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town, I noticed that the family was still there, standing outside the closed gas station.
One day my head was throbbing so badly, I could barely see. Times, Sunday Times
In fact, the Universe as observed today seems to have barely a fraction of the mass needed to keep galaxies from flying apart, based on the rotations of the stars in the galaxy about the galactic center.
We are often obliged to report on mayhem and savage behaviour perpetrated by thugs who are barely out of rompers.
Andrew Bridge is on a mission: To fix the foster care system that he barely survived.
Nicola was shown on a bar stool in a black skirt that barely hid her crutch.
I used "factory owners" only because I have no better image of the kind of people who benefits from a general lowering of salaries, and "workers" - how do you call the people, very numerous, who live by selling their unspecialized or barely specialized labor. How Everyone Can Get Richer as Per-Capita Income Falls, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
Opposition fighters claimed to be in control of almost all of the capital barely 24 hours after they entered the city. Times, Sunday Times
She had barely registered his presence.
The Athenian war fleet was reduced to twelve ships - barely enough to protect her shipping.
Evan's barely perceptible nod was his only answer.
By twisting her body and bracing her legs to counteract the momentum, she barely managed to prevent herself from falling face-first onto the hard, grimy pavement.
We are, just barely, in Kaneohe (which might really be Kane'ohe, but none of the maps have the macrons, so I've given up using them anywhere).
The match was barely three minutes old when the 24-year-old skied an effort from close range. Times, Sunday Times
In the space of barely an hour we witnessed a masterclass in how to fuse jazz and chamber music. Times, Sunday Times
Got to love those RME interfaces with tiny little 1U rack handles that you can barely fit your finger through. EBay of the day: Coolest thing in the world, ever!
They were polite and spoke barely above a whisper and never used faults in an animal to force a deal.
Barely one in three will bother to cast a ballot on February 26th.
Our nation's rich supply of blow-up dolls has barely begun to be explored for national security purposes.
One of them featured a famous photograph of a gauzy Laura Ashley skirt barely concealing the sunshine-silhouetted thighs of a kindergarten aide named Diana Spencer.
And it got to the point where I was working two jobs at a time and we were still just barely scraping by.
At the story's beginning, a drug damages Rodney and makes him completely and incurably aphasiac; the only dent in the aphasia is an Ancient device which allows Rodney to do pictoral mental communication with Ancient gene carriers, just barely enough that they don't need to ship him home immediately. October 6th, 2007
Distribute the wool evenly across the entire card until the teeth are barely showing through.
One man was so drunk as to be barely conscious.
The fact that the horn barely missed the aorta is an UNBELIEVABLE piece of luck is what I meant to say. Close Calls: Gored By a Bull Elk
Tucker Bounds, a McCain spokesman, could barely utter two consecutive sentences without mentioning the plumber.
He tossed his head slightly, and uttered a small sound, barely an exhalation.
Wearing a frilly white bikini top and barely there bottoms, she looked absolutely sensational. The Sun
A 63 year old man, with a knee the size of Milwaukee, who can barely walk, let alone compete, is "average"? Tallulah Morehead: Survivor 21: Infants vs Senior Citizens : Triage for Dummies.
Apprenticeships in the creative and cultural industries barely existed a decade ago. Times, Sunday Times
An incredible horror-barely mitigated by the gallantry award and hero's status he had earned by staking his own life.
He threw a large shuriken, a throwing star, so fast that Kenji just barely got out of the way.
Faced by an overwhelmingly superior force, our badly depleted three divisions had barely escaped being bagged in the net of which the enemy had all but drawn the noose in a strategetic surrounding movement. The Escape of a Princess Pat Being the full account of the capture and fifteen months' imprisonment of Corporal Edwards, of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and his final escape from Germany into Holland
I've heard politicians and their factotums express themselves in this way about people who are so angry they can barely express themselves, or who have grievances that they cannot articulate properly.
But the wage demands of players in recent years have been such that these vast sums have barely made a dent in the economic problems of English football.
An iceberg smashes its way to the surface, all sharp angles and ragged edges, rearing over the barely visible remains of a crushed and sinking ship.
He speaks in a low voice , on occasions barely above a whisper.
‘Lewis,’ he said in a mutter, barely acknowledging my presence.
Side-by-side (it takes barely half an hour to get from one to the other) are the sybaritic pleasures of the beach and the heady exertions of the sort of outdoor life enjoyed by the Von Trapp family.
Our son who barely spoke had just uttered a really complex thought. The Sun
The clock had barely started ticking in the second period before Killie equalised.
The trees were in blossom, each had barely budded individual fruit.
There were paper balls and bells that concertinaed flat for storage, but when opened were in quarters of red and blue and yellow; the paper was barely more substantial than tissue and the decorations were easily torn. Irish Blogs
A large proportion are children who have barely obtained rudimentary education and live in shacks without basic amenities.
Admittedly the film's premise is barely enough to sustain its 100-minute running time, but this film is as much brains as it is heart.
Barely 15 minutes had elapsed. The Sun
The Jag blocked the whole alleyway, barely leaving enough room for someone to sidle past it. DEAD BEAT
Her voice lowers to barely above a whisper. Times, Sunday Times
The region has barely been explored, but as the polar icecap melts access is becoming easier. Times, Sunday Times
Although the spring migration has barely begun, tens of thousands of geese and huge flocks of ducks are already here.
Reduce to the lowest possible heat and barely simmer for two hours. Times, Sunday Times
But it's hard to appreciate striking features and buffed bodies when they make you laugh so hard you can barely see straight!
Again, there's a democratizing influence; the blogosphere is the new slushpile, and a retweeting chain that links someone with a manuscript to an agent or editor might pass through three "friends" who barely even know each other. MIND MELD: How Does Blogging and Social Networking Affect the Publishing Industry?
It would barely run to the exhaust pipe on a tank. Times, Sunday Times
It was barely furnished: a small seating area with a glass coffee table at one end and the piano and stereo system at the other.
A barely audible, beautifully modulated voice recounts some mundane or tragic moment, as it relays from one audio station to another.
Barely ninety minutes after being given the boot by that bogtrotter sergeant, she was sipping coffee in the RTE studios in Donnybrook, yakking to Gaffney while some other guy did sound checks on her mike. The Priest
In fact, drawing is prominent in the paintings, whether jerkily outlining colored patches or visible as the pentimenti of earlier, barely erased marks.
To hear them, one must be calm and pay close attention, for their wingbeats are barely audible.
The pears had been barely cooked and they perched on a puff pastry tarte with no caramelisation in sight.
Still, since only the two of us ever read this stuff, it barely matters, does it?
My first attempt to saw into the boulder barely scuffs the rock.
In the meantime it is sufficient to note that the position where the rules are barely enforced at all is far from satisfactory.
And then there's losing a child, which, by all accounts, is so horrendous that what we know as grief barely applies. Latest stories
But the klieg lights had barely dimmed when anonymous "law enforcement authorities" began attacking the NYPD's case and its methods. New York Police and the FBI Feud Over a Terrorist Case
I could barely walk in them, let alone gracefully glide over smooth ice.
The second sandwolf peered from the side of the quarasote, then turned, and bounded to a second clump of quarasote, before vanishing into a gully so small that Wendra could barely make it out. Darkness
Stephen goes out walking along the sea wall, where he passes a group of religious brothers that he can barely look at.
Is it raining when there's barely a fine drizzle? Times, Sunday Times
He advised against lipo as she had barely any fat. The Sun
And Nigeria is, after all, a relatively young democracy, having shaken off decades of military misrule barely five years ago.
He must have been young at that time, since he only appeared barely over forty years of age, despite a weathered face and body.
If prowess at the game comes down to memorising a list of meaningless two and three letter words that are only barely considered English, then the language itself becomes secondary, in which case why not play flipping sudoku?
His pommel horse routine takes barely a minute. Times, Sunday Times
Her feet made barely a sound as she padded across the living room.
They're browsing the wet grass the snow has left and, statued, stare at me in deep silence and I see whatever light there is gather to glossy pools in their eight mild, barely curious but wary eyes. What Light There Is
Anastasia could barely remember the ride to the hospital.
In years gone by, entire summers could pass with barely a glimpse of flannelled foolery on the back pages of the tabloids.
I barely recognized the bedraggled figure who staggered in from the storm.
His eyes were closed, muscles lax, breathing barely detectable.
A more cowardly attack is barely conceivable. The Sun
It offers rare insights into how a country survives in terrible conditions and how decent people are corrupted by witnessing barely imaginable horrors. Times, Sunday Times
that must have been much too soon, and Bauman turned and got his right up barely in time to catch Muñoz" overhand. STONE CITY
The cliffs were barely visible now, plunging downwards to a broad inlet spanned by many bridges and surrounded by a sprawling port. THE GREENSTONE GRAIL: THE SANGREAL TRILOGY ONE
Once we got home, there was barely time to enjoy our presents. We had to go off to our grandparents' house for our annual Christmas dinner. As we drove down the highway through town, I noticed that the family was still there, standing outside the closed gas station.
After years of foot-dragging and political interference, Japan is finally moving to clear its books of bad loans, while China has barely begun.
Ok then lets say it has to deliver above 2000 joule of energy on target at 100 yards and has to have a premium bullet .. 30 carbine out 30-30 in 223 out 22-250 in barely etc.. a 22-250 will do the job with barnes-x and a good shot .. Is Your Bullet Big Enough?
By the benchmark of the Rwandan civil war, it would barely rate a mention.
The driver turned a hard right, barely avoiding a large divot, and suddenly they were on a street filled with high-rises. MINUTES TO BURN
David barely won his seat last time, and his popularity's only gotten worse since the DUI. THE CRASH OF HENNINGTON
The dollar was little changed against the yen during Tokyo trading, and the government bond market barely moved.
A barely contained energy surged through the crowd; it appeared to ripple as slogan after slogan boomed out across the open space.
Some lines are busy express routes, others are branch lines that have barely any traffic. Times, Sunday Times
After barely surviving her ordeal, the young woman began years of reconstructive surgery.
Young yet, barely thirty-six, eminently handsome, magnificently strong, almost bursting with a splendid virility, his free trail-stride, never learned on pavements, and his black eyes, hinting of great spaces and unwearied with the close perspective of the city dwellers, drew many a curious and wayward feminine glance. Chapter I
We had barely hammered in the last tent peg when 50 elephants emerged from the forest to bathe in the river. Times, Sunday Times
No longer could I stand for barely a minute, I had begun holding onto walls for support as I walked, I coughed and yacked indescribable things into the bathroom sink, I yelled at the kids playing on my yawn. Spilling Sand
He stamped his feet as he waited with barely concealed impatience for the telephone.
Lipton had barely entered his office when the intercom buzzed.
We walked down the valley through rainforest so thick with plants that light barely pierced the canopy. Times, Sunday Times
He barely managed to reveal the whereabouts of his ill-gotten gains before drifting into unconsciousness. AMAGANSETT
They were living barely above the level of subsistence.
His tone of barely disguised contempt is maintained throughout the book.
just keep your wits about you and steer clear of the concrete jungle that entangles Tokyo's barely beating heart.
They had pre-booked the ferry sailings in advance - a legitimate company could barely have moved the goods that quickly.
She had barely arrived at the international exhibition centre when she was handed a stark Brexit warning. Times, Sunday Times
The local left had declared a general strike and the meeting went ahead in an atmosphere of barely contained violence. DOVES OF WAR: Four Women of Spain
A trace of sadness was barely audible in Cattia's flat voice, perhaps such a small sliver of one that only Tania really could pick it up.
The rooms were perfect in every detail, with hot and cold running taps in every bedroom, dimmer light-switches and wirelesses that actually seemed to be making a barely decipherable tinny broadcast.

How To Use Barely In A Sentence

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