How to use "just" in a sentence

Its words never help, they just make me feel bad

But this time, I just called a quick goodbye to my housemates - Brian, Joe, and Leona

We arrive just before 2.00 pm

It's warm and sunny with just a few white clouds in the sky.

The Big Drop Rappel is now just under a kilometre away.

I just stand there, looking at my trapped hand in disbelief.

It just makes things worse.

They'll just think that I decided not to meet them

Even on Monday evening, my housemates will just think I'm late getting back

'Why didn't we just get his phone number?' Megan asked as they drove back to Moab.

The sun is shining into the canyon and a raven has just flown across the blue sky above my head

It's just a small animal moving in the rock

It's just after three o'clock on Sunday, April the 27th, 2003

I drank at 3.15 pm, just after I finished filming

I start chipping at the boulder just to keep warm.

I've just lost half of the rest of my life.

'No, just that he might hike somewhere in the Canyonlands area of Utah,' explained Brion

It's perfect - just the right size and weight.

It is just over eighteen metres to the canyon floor.

I just want to stay there for the rest of my life.

'No, just one,' I whisper

The top of the Nautilus was just above the surface of the water

"Well, the giant squid is really just a story

My daddy died just after I was born

'It was difficult enough for me just to remember where our goal line was.'

The place where I had to live was just a bit better than the rooms at the university, but the food was not

Then, and in the months to come, I just had to do the things that I was told to do

The 'showers' were just a long hole in the ground for us to stand in, while somebody threw water over us

Two of them were dead, and Doyle was only just alive.

They just ran!

But I just ran.

I just wanted to die, too.

I was just thinking of getting out of there and having some breakfast when the President said, 'Boy, is that your stomach making that noise?' So I said, 'Yes,' and the President said, 'Well, come on, boy, let's go and get something to eat!' And I followed him into the house, and a waiter got us some breakfast.

The President asked me a lot of questions about Vietnam and the army, but I just said, 'Yes, it's OK' or shook my head to say no, and after several minutes of this we were both silent.

But I just try to do the right thing.'

Now that I was free from the army, I just wanted to go and see her

'She just got out of prison,' he said

'You're just the kind of person that they're looking for!' the doctors told me.

She just said, 'Forrest, it has to be you.'

I just want to live in an ordinary way now

I was just walking out again when I saw a little old man who was playing chess with himself at a table near the door

'You're just what I need for a film that I'm making

But just when Honest Ivan seemed to be winning, Sue ran across the room and jumped onto the chess table!

'I'm just going to work hard,' I told myself

But most of the time I just try to do the right thing.

It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.

On the contrary, I hold that non-cooperation is a just and religious doctrine; it is the inherent right of every human being and it is perfectly constitutional

And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.

He's just been telling me what pleasure you both give him

'You're a rogue, Slinkton, and I've caught you! I took these rooms on purpose, just to catch you

Polly Nichols died just a few days after her forty-third birthday

Mr Diemschutz looked down to his right and in the pitch darkness he could just see a shape on the ground

One of them walked through Goulston Street just before 2.15, but saw nothing suspicious and returned to Mitre Square

Hutchinson said the man was aged about 34-35, just over 1.67m, with a pale face, dark eyes and hair and a small moustache

You've just been released from prison

He looked around but could see nothing in the darkness - just a purple mist rising slowly from the fields.

At the end of the year, however, Thenardier was not happy with just seven francs a month; he demanded twelve and Fantine paid without protest, happy that her daughter was being well cared for.

And now I've just seen her spit at you, the mayor of our town

'But I saw what happened in the street just now,' M

The man who had just saved her from prison was also the man who had caused all her troubles

'Madame, I've just noticed this on the floor

There was not much furniture in the room - just an old bed, a mattress on the floor, a table, some chairs and a lighted stove

He bent and kissed the sleeping child's forehead just as, nine months earlier, he had kissed her mother's.

I was afraid that it was just a dream.'

'I just want you to enjoy yourself.'

Now, he discovered the greatest joy he had ever known by just standing beside her bed and looking at her innocent, trusting little face

The beggar raised his face and stared hard at Valjean for just a second, then quickly bowed his head

He blew out the candle and, just as he was kissing Cosette on the forehead, the footsteps stopped

He was only just in time

There was a tree on the other side of the wall, and Valjean carried Cosette down into its branches just as the soldiers arrived.

His father had just died

He just looked at the girl from time to time with an affectionate, fatherly smile.

Leblanc and his daughter had just left

Eventually, Marius was not satisfied with just knowing the girl's name; he wanted to know where she lived

'It gave me so much happiness just to look at her, and now, through my stupidity, I've lost even that.'

Marius looked up quickly and saw that his visitor was a thin girl wearing just a skirt and shirt

Moving closer to her, he said, 'Do you know the address of those people who've just left your room?'

Jondrette, who had just come in, was shaking snow from his shoes.

'It's just an old inn-sign

'Do you remember the little inn in Montfermeil eight years ago? You took away our Cosette, do you remember? Wearing that old yellow coat, pretending you were a tramp! Well, now you're going to learn that you can't make things right by just bringing a few hospital blankets! You're the cause of all my troubles

He was just in time

Beneath the stars, they were happy just to look into each others eyes and hold each other's hands

They would sit and hold hands and talk, or just gaze into each other's eyes and smile.

He had just reached the door, however, when M

Marius ran to the gate and was just in time to see the figure of Eponine, Thenardier's daughter, disappearing into the shadows at the end of the street.

Someone fired a gun and a bullet hit a wall just behind him, but he didn't care.

He was just approaching the rue de Chanvrerie when he heard a loud voice calling from the shadows: 'Who's there?'

Cosette's blotter was lying on a cupboard just below it and, as Valjean stared at its reflection, he read the following lines:

He could just see, by the grey light from the grille above his head, that he was surrounded by walls

'You killed a man for just thirty francs? You're a fool.' He searched Marius's pockets himself, and then Valjean's.

He took the thirty francs and, helping Valjean to lift Marius on to his shoulders, he put the key in the lock and opened the gate just wide enough for Valjean to pass through

Then, just as he was bending to splash water from the river on Marius's face, he was aware of someone else standing behind him

'He has just been brought here,' said a servant

'I know this secret already,' Marius said, 'just as I knew the others.'

He came to the barricade to save me, just as he saved Javert

The t-shirt is not familiar either: just simple and black

But I suppose that's just who I am: a romantic.

"I just want Catherine," I say, but I can see the hate in the man's eyes, and I know that the only thing I can do now is run to the stone where I know she is tied and try to escape into the fog with her.

I'm just happy Catherine is okay."

"You think you can just walk out of here?" Robin laughs

"Oh, and just to let you know, there are no bullets in any of our guns." Hastings starts to shout, but we do not listen

But just to be safe he decides not to phone Emily again.

I just need to wait for her like a good husband, he thinks.

"Can't we just go out for a few minutes, please? Just to enjoy the sunset?"

"Ay, well, just for 10 minutes then."

Just one push, and then he can shout for the attendant and pretend to help but really just watch the monster go down into the loch

Is she crazy or just terrified? "Miss Thornton, if this man enters your house, we can arrest him

Most people think it is just a story

No, Big Jones does not just kill you

But just to be safe he pulls his new gun from the bag and checks it

It is just a small crocodile

"You're just hungry

"It's just..

They just watch those big screens, take pictures, eat and drink

A guy's bag you can just walk away with

Occasionally he just looks at his watch.

He just needs to be quick

Maybe he should look inside, he thinks, just to make sure.

Can he leave the bag? Can he just run away? Run away? When he knows what the man is going to do?

What he sees inside looks just like from the movies: the clock, the wires and the heavy packs of something horrible and dangerous

"It's just..

it's just the wrong bag."

"If they scare you, just scream, and I can rescue you."

After the murderer kills the victim, they just watch the weapon melt

There are people there already, neighbours, and this is just what she wants

And I'm afraid I just don't know

I suppose sometimes a person just..

Today he just wants to get out of the hot courtroom, away from the serious lawyers in their black gowns and white wigs and go and enjoy the sun.

And if you tell anyone, it is going to be just as easy to finish you

But this is just your imagination, your fear, and you know that and try to stay calm and focussed.

Yes, a brave dog to protect you instead of just a lazy cat that lies in dangerous places.

It was just a bad dream, you think

You quietly open it, just a little, just so you can see the dark landing.

He is young: just a kid, just a stupid kid...

I just stopped in to confess about stealing another bottle of whiskey from the shop

So instead he just wants to get as far from the town called Needles as he can before the night comes.

"Jesus, just stay cool, Dan, just stay cool," he tries to tell himself as the red car slows down

God, he wishes he could remember last night: not just the girl's expression when he hit her, but everything.

If things get serious, then maybe he can manage if there is just one.

We just take the kid in the truck

I just know that if we ask them for a small amount, then they can pay

The falls: so beautiful, just like when he and Greg were kids

"But it wasn't," a voice replies, and Brandon turns and sees the dark coat, only this time there is no black hat: just long, red hair

After only two weeks of working with Smith, he already knows that it is best to just nod.

"Well, just observing, Sir

It's best to just nod

Yes, it's best to just nod.

"It just looks the same."

And dark hair too, just like his mother's.

When Owen was a boy of fourteen, he played rugby or football every day, he ran to the school in the village just for fun, and he spent every Sunday in the forests with his dad.

Rhea says that it is just his age, and that all teenage boys prefer computer games and television to walks in the forest.

That's a crime, that's illegal, but you still do that, don't you? Well, this is just like that

Now, not many people come to this side of the forest at this time of the year, but if you see someone you just put the gun down gently in a bush or under some leaves

Owen sees the boy throw the gun and tries to shout that it is just a deer, but it is too late

And he thinks that maybe next time they should just go to the cinema instead

Is he strange? Or are you just being silly?

The man in the corner is probably just a normal guy and not some horrible character from one of her thrillers.

He uses something strange: not a knife but something long and thin, and he stabs them again and again, and they just bleed and bleed."

They just, I don't know, let this guy stab them again and again."

"I was just surprised."

You just need to get home, she tells herself, and she feels the train slow down, and she knows she must get up.

"Yes, just tired."

...He uses something strange: not a knife but something long and thin, and he stabs them again and again, and they just bleed and bleed.

Government agents had just arrived, so the crowd would soon be forced to leave

"So they're just getting wet for no reason?" said Niki

In a simulator, it was hard to forget that there were four walls just five or six steps away - but in a pod, you lost your awareness of the world around you

With five of them sharing, an hour cost just one energy unit each, so they did this often

But it's not just an idea

He was quiet, just listening

She had a hat pulled low over her face, so it was partly hidden, but Sala could just see her green eyes.

Well, just off the walkway, really

I just thought you might be annoyed with me, and I didn't want to ruin our day."

"It's just..

"I had enough money for one, and you just had to say you were interested in Pod Life

"No! Well, I mean - just as an idea, you know..."

It's just annoying

"Can't you just get rid of them?"

It's just an idea

"Last night, you said it was just to get the second pod experience!"

Her mom was a food scientist in the meat-growing laboratory, developing different kinds of meat from just a few animal cells

it was just me and Apat, and Cham."

"Well, I suppose I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, there is still life in the outside world - and maybe someone from that world has found a way across the city boundary."

She arrived just as the rain began to pour, and lightning flashed across the sky

One wall of the apartment was just plain white, with a hologram you could turn on and off

You don't just learn the ideas

"Because you're just lying in the pod, they're able to store all the heat energy that your body creates

"Well, it's just..

"I just wondered..." Cham hesitated

And then, just like the first time, the woman stepped quickly onto the walkway and was soon lost among the crowds.

"You just walk in," Zee explained

In one direction, a golden beach was just visible, with the tops of green trees beyond it

I'll just finish this." Cham swallowed his drink hurriedly, and they waved goodbye to Zee.

She wished they could just go back to normal now

"You just said you'd like to do it."

I'm just saying - maybe the world out there is not as terrible as the government would like us to believe."

And what if - just what if - she was right?

She had to consider Cham's future, not just her own

"I know," said Cham, "but I think it's just stopping

I just can't

But then she opened her mouth and the words just came out

"It's not just that," she protested

Sorry just wasn't enough.

I'm just angry with life."

I just want to talk to you."

"Mom, why can't they just use people instead of replacing them with robots and nanobots all the time?" Suddenly, Sala felt more angry than upset

We have a very nice house near the ocean and there are wild roses in the garden, just as there were when we were young

We just have to find a way to get there..."

It's just that..

Cham's parents Dani and Tian were waiting for them just inside

"So now, just a few details

With just two days to go before Pod Life began, Sala woke up feeling depressed

Sala stepped into a room: an ordinary earth apartment, just like thousands of others.

"You can just stop people's ultranet connections? How? Who are you?"

There were just two chairs, a simple metal table, and a very old sofa

Behind him, Sala could just see a complicated collection of screens.

"Let's just walk."

It just seems like a..

I just wish..." Sala paused

"I just wish you'd change your mind about Pod Life," she said, in a rush.

But I've been starting to wonder whether the whole thing was just a joke, or a trick, even."

In the end, they had just an hour or two at his apartment before he left

"He's just joking," she told the girls

"We support you - Gran is just not ready yet

But she was so good at just melting away, disappearing before Sala had time to realize she was going

She'd just have to wait for Wena to appear again.

I mean, yawn! But it's just a part of what we do

I can't believe how fresh the air is and the sky is just..." At last, he paused for a second.

"Yeah, it's just this deep, deep blue -"

It wasn't just his avatar

Maybe he was just being protective - worried that the rebels would put her in danger

"Coming!" Sala left her room and found that Gran had just prepared some fresh juice.

"I just wish I could do more

This is our future, isn't it? There's no point in sitting back, just waiting for it to happen."

I'll just see what I can find."

I can just wait for Wena or Oban to appear.

She should just go home..

She dived onto it just as the rain began to pour, and started walking quickly.

"It's just common sense

"After just two weeks!"

"It was good to talk to Cham just now, wasn't it?" said Dani.

So much had changed in just a few short weeks

"It's just like this."

So the real Cham was still there, underneath! Maybe he'd just needed a little time to get used to them all again...

She just had to hope that no one was listening in on their conversation.

"I just don't understand

It was clear to them now: the pods were just another way of controlling everyone

And then, just before daybreak, she had an idea

What was that look in his eyes? A challenge or just a question? Whichever it was, Sala knew the moment had come.

She closed her eyes, and let herself enjoy it, just for this moment

I keep it just as it was

Manderley had been made into a place of light and beauty, just for me.

I felt as though I had just woken up from a long sleep

It was just a question of waiting - of waiting until Tuesday.

'Mr de Winter has just finished giving his evidence

'We'll meet at the crossroads just after nine,' Favell said

Maybe he'd only suffered a mild head injury, just severe enough to give him..

Torn and crushed in a bus accident with fourteen other little boys, just one victim of a larger tragedy

Heavy objects didn't just fall of their own accord in deserted rooms.

As long as she left his things undisturbed, she could continue to entertain the hope that Danny was not dead, that he was just away somewhere for a while, and that he would shortly pick up his life where he had left off

Her inability to clean out his room suddenly frightened her; for the first time it seemed like more than just a weakness of spirit but an indication of serious mental illness

Danny, of course, had been writing about something else, and the dark interpretation that could be drawn from those two words now, after his death, was just a macabre coincidence.

You earned every penny you're gonna make out of this baby, just like I knew you would

Anybody else tried to handle all this, they'd just end up with one goddamn big mishkadenze on their hands

He had become not just a valued business associate, but a good friend as well, a big brother.

And in just four hours Magyck! Would premiere.

They didn't hike all the way into the true wilderness, just a reasonable distance off the beaten path, and they planned for every contingency

"And I'm just plain Elliot."

"You see what he just did?" Helen asked Tina, clapping her hands with delight

Even these days, when most machines could be played with electronically validated value cards, the nickel duchesses wore black gloves to keep their hands from becoming filthy after hours of handling coins and pulling levers; they always sat on stools while they played, and they remembered to alternate hands when operating the machines in order not to strain the muscles of one arm, and they carried bottles of liniment just in case.

Besides, living in Sacramento, she wouldn't be a nickel duchess any longer; she wouldn't be anyone special; she would be just another elderly lady, living with her daughter's family, playing grandma, marking time, waiting to die.

They would think she was just a foolish old woman

This display had always contained six pictures, not just four

Besides, the house hadn't shuddered just a minute ago; only the photos had been affected.

Elliot wanted to know more about Christina Evans - and on a more fundamental level, he just wanted her.

"Eat takeout food at two hundred miles an hour in the Batmobile, and no matter how messy it gets - just hose off later."

I just have to check on the show once every couple of weeks to make sure the tone of it isn't drifting away from my original intention."

He says I'd just make the performers nervous and cause the technicians to look over their shoulders for the boss when they should have their eyes on their work."

"Why don't we just go straight to the restaurant?"

"I'll park the car in front of the restaurant door, and I'll leave the engine running just in case."

Tina gave her address to him, and then somehow they were talking about jazz and Benny Goodman, and then about the miserable service provided by the Las Vegas phone company, just chatting away as if they were old friends

"But if you just put your name on our work list, we'll most likely have a man there by four o'clock this afternoon, tomorrow morning at the latest

But once in a while, a guy really loses track, doesn't get up for hours and hours, just keeps on playing like a zombie

Heart attacks are more frequent around the slot machines than anywhere else in the casino, and a lot of the victims are people who've just lined up three bars and won a bundle.

"I think they were just trying to upset me, scare me."

"Michael, it's not just a story."

"There's more to life than just having a flashy career," Michael said pontifically

These last few days, as your show's been getting ready to open, I've had the feeling you might finally realize you need something more in life, something a lot more emotionally satisfying than whatever it is you can get out of just producing stage shows."

She said, "I didn't make up that story about someone breaking into the house just so you could play the strong, reliable man to my weak, frightened female

It's just - I was excited, Tina

I have the intelligence and the talent to be more than just one thing

And I certainly can be more than just your trinket and your housekeeper."

"Wait just a damn minute

She just surrendered to the racking grief that swept through her and did not question it.

He'll just add on an extra trip for his anniversary

"Maybe it's just me

Well, just watch out for that hangover."

She intended to determine if the words about Danny had been previously programmed to print out on her machine or if they had been sent to her just seconds ago by someone at another computer in another office in the hotel's elaborately networked series of workstations.

Suddenly, as the screen began to fill with the same seven-line message that had just been wiped from it, Tina had enough

She had just spoken to the computer as if she actually thought she was talking to Danny

I just wanted to say hello."

I just..

I just don't understand."

It isn't likely Angela and I both just imagined it."

You see, I've convinced my conscious mind that my boy is dead, but when I'm asleep it's my subconscious mind that's in charge; and my subconscious just isn't convinced that Danny's gone."

We've just crossed you off the list of suspects

"And I'm just as positive it isn't a friend or a relative

"I'm just trying to think how best to phrase what's on my mind

At last, she just plunged into it: "What I'm thinking..

Maybe someone's just dropping a series of hints, trying to wake me up to the fact that Danny isn't dead."

Because the mother hadn't seen the body in the funeral home, she just couldn't bring herself to believe her daughter was really dead

I guess your law practice isn't just another Vegas divorce mill."

Some of our clients made smart moves and were carried right to the top by the explosive growth of the gaming industry and the Vegas real-estate market, and we just sort of shot up there along with them, hanging on to their coattails."

Her smile was so lovely that he could have stood there all evening, just staring at the sweet curve of her lips.

This is just my kitchen style."

"That mustard powder you're just about to put into the salad dressing."

"I believe you just did."

She told herself that sex was just like riding a bicycle, impossible to un learn, but the frivolousness of that analogy didn't increase her self-confidence.

He was afraid Tina Evans would be taken away from him just as Nancy had been.

And her husband saves a bundle in attorney's fees that he'd just be throwing away in a hopeless attempt to stop us."

He had just opened a bottle of balsamic vinegar and poured four ounces into a measuring cup when he heard movement behind him.

We've just got to ask you some questions."

Determined not to let them see that he was frightened, aware that any sign of fear would be taken as proof of weakness, Elliot said, "Well, you've got one hell of a weird approach for someone who's just taking a public opinion survey."

"It's a lot, thirty or forty questions altogether, but it won't take long if you just sit down over there and cooperate."

"I guess that's just one more question you're not going to get an answer for," Elliot said.

We can't just stand here forever."

We just have to find out exactly why the Evans woman wants the grave reopened

How could she have dreamed about this hideous creature just last night and then find it waiting for her here, today, only hours later?

I just-"

"If you want, I could just go in through the garage door."

This is just going to be a routine check."

I thought it was just a simple thing."

"You really think you want to tangle with me, little man? Hell, my fist is just about as big as your head

If these people were determined to kill him just to stop the exhumation, they would have to kill Tina

This was just a silly comic book, an absurd horror story

Yeah, sure, just about as coincidental as sunrise following sunset.

"I just wanted to let you know I was going, so you could lock the door behind me."

"Listen, Tina, they wanted to kill me just because I was going to help you get Danny's body exhumed."

Elliot put a hand on her shoulder, stopped her, and turned her around just as they entered the bedroom

"He left just a couple minutes before you came in."

Tina passed a leafy green plant, a four-foot-high schefflera that she had owned since it was only one-fourth as tall as it was now, and she had the insane urge to stop and risk getting caught in the coming explosion just long enough to pick up the plant and take it with her

"I'm not just going to try."

The only thing I do know is they can't let us just walk away."

Elliot had the awful feeling that this guy would reach for the button Tina had pushed less than a minute ago, and that the garage door would lift just as the black van was rolling slowly by in the street.

Tina continued: "You're just not the man we were supposed to see, that's all

"Maybe just a down payment?" Tom asked.

Besides, if we go back to my house, we'll just be walking into the dragon's jaws

"The only way these people are going to get us," he said, "is if we just give ourselves over to them

"Remember maybe ten years ago when that Texas elections official revealed how Lyndon Johnson's first local election was fixed? The guy said he was just trying to clear his conscience after all those years

"We just need time to think about it, time to work out a plan

Tina said, "It's just that..

And now, just when I'm beginning to think I can face up to it and put it behind me, I discover he might not have died accidentally after all

I'm just me, the same old me that I always was."

"Then you must have seen the magazine before and you just-"

"Now," Tina said, "just like Death tried to stop the parents in the story, someone's trying to stop me from opening my son's grave."

It's just too much," she said.

not just, as if I'm being watched but..

True to the rhythm of Vegas life, someone was just beginning his day with a hearty breakfast

If they hadn't seen their kids' bodies, they might have just gone through a year of doubt like you did, might be easily persuaded to join us in a call for the reopening of all the graves

But if the other people had a chance to view the bodies, if none of them has had any reason to entertain doubts like yours, then they're all just finally learning to cope with the tragedy

That might be just what Vince's bosses are expecting us to do

And I'm not just talking about the obvious ones like Nellis Air Force Base and the Nuclear Test Site

"I just can't believe the government would murder a group of little children just because they accidentally got a glimpse of a new weapon or something."

it all seems just too incredible."

He's just like the two men who came to see me

"Can't we just call Bellicosti?"

I guess I'm just..

They were just ordinary people in a roadside restaurant, having dinner.

"Listen," she said excitedly, "we thought someone was sending me messages about Danny being alive just to rub my face in the fact that he was actually dead - or to let me know, in a roundabout fashion, that the way he died wasn't anything like what I'd been told

"A tremendous sense of peace, of reassurance, came over me in the diner, just before you finally managed to shut off the jukebox

It wasn't just an inner feeling of peace

"Winning a few hands at blackjack - that's luck, just like you said

And predicting that a runaway dog will be killed in traffic - that's just a reasonable assumption to make under the circumstances

He's able to move objects just by thinking about them

Elliot said, "If Danny has this incredible power, why is he sending messages just to you? Why doesn't he at least contact Michael too?"

But Danny was hurt just the same

It seems to me as if you're just setting yourself up for a bad fall, a lot of pain."

We just have to flow with events."

Or maybe he did know and just didn't give a damn about his ex-wife

"Jesus, you just never know, do you?"

"I just spoke with the men who're watching Stryker's house," Alexander said

I practically volunteered to help you with the exhumation, and it all just fell apart from there

"But if that's where they went, then they're not just hiding out, licking their wounds

"But if I wait, I'm just giving him a chance to keep one step ahead." Worried, he continued to hesitate, anxiously chewing his lip.

We'll just eliminate Bellicosti and set up a trap at the funeral home."

With a distant click, the light that he had just turned off now turned itself on.

In fact, just the opposite was true

"I'm just trying to be conscientious," Zachariah said, almost pouting

All we're doing is just playing catch-up

"You're just feeling guilty," Dombey said.

"Tina, we're just wasting time sitting here-"

He was just jumpy.

"It was just the shock."

A white Ford sedan had just turned the corner, moving slowly

They must have just now homed in on it."

Crouching beside one of those bushes, huddling in the shadows just beyond the circle of frosty light from a nearby street lamp, he pulled the pistol out of his coat pocket while Tina drove away.

At the request of its casino manager, every hotel held a handful of rooms off the market, just in case a few regular customers - high rollers, of course - showed up by surprise, with no advance notice, but with fat bankrolls and no place to stay

It's just that for more than fifteen years, I've led a very ordinary life, a workaday life

"It's not just me that has a savage trapped inside."

"Danny just sent me another dream."

He wants us just to walk into the place where they're keeping him and take him out."

We can't just charge in like the cavalry

But I have this feeling that if we just find some way..

"I'm just going to completely relax, make myself open and receptive

"If you'd just tell me why

Lunatics and just plain irrational people didn't intentionally try to amuse.

She pulled the cap off the red felt-tip pen that Elliot had purchased at the hotel newsstand just before they'd caught a taxi to Sandstone's house

You're just the method of transmission - like a telephone."

"It's just..

So I usually just drive down the day before I open

"Look," Billy said, "I'm not just a hypnotist

I just have to know how you did that trick with the drapes, the roses

And the corners of the map! I just have to know."

Let's just hope my philosophy doesn't turn out to be half-baked."

This was his second pill since he'd gotten out of bed just three and a half hours ago, but he still felt edgy.

"What if Danny didn't have anything to do with it? They might just be letting us in so they can trap us inside."

The second gate was one and a half miles past the first, on a short length of straightaway, just over the brow of a hill

"Someone, some damn turncoat on Project Pandora, must have revealed enough about its location for them to find it with just a little help

You're seeing just the front wall

"The government wouldn't go to all the trouble of hiding this joint out here just to house a handful of researchers or whatever

It opened onto a junction of two hallways, which Tina had discovered a few minutes ago, just after Elliot had shot the guard, when she had peeked through the door to see if reinforcements were on the way.

"We can't just go around jerking open doors."

To the right of the window was another airtight door like the one through which they'd just entered

"Well, if you don't think I can, just sit back and listen

Today, Danny just beat it for the fourteenth time."

"I can't believe what I just heard."

Elliot said, "But if racing to keep up with the Chinese - or the Russians or the Iraqis - can create situations like the one we've got here, where an innocent child gets ground up in the machine, then aren't we just becoming monsters too? Aren't we letting our fears of the enemy turn us into them? And isn't that just another way of losing the war?"

But if we closed up shop, if we stopped doing this sort of research just because we were afraid of men like Tamaguchi winding up in charge of it, we'd be conceding so much ground to our enemies that we wouldn't survive for long

"Right now I just want to know how the hell Danny wound up in this place."

He just went right off the rails," Dombey said, obviously embarrassed that one of his colleagues would lose control of himself under those circumstances

"Bollinger knew how fast Wuhan-400 claims its victims, and he just panicked

That was just about the time that another researcher walked into his lab, saw the cultures of Wuhan-400 broken open on the floor, and set off the alarm

They were just about to move off the road, into the trees, so they would be away from any sign of civilization when they set up camp for their first night in the wilderness

"He just needs to be fattened up

"And if I don't stay here, if I walk away and get a job at a civilian research center, that'll be just one less rational voice in this place

If they all left, they'd just be turning the place over to men like Tamaguchi and Zachariah, and there wouldn't be anyone around to balance things

"But once our story breaks in the papers," Tina said, "they'll probably just shut this place down."

But just tell me one thing

No one threatened my life; neither of these women had an unkempt beard (or a kempt one for that matter); neither of them presented us with a body-odor problem; and neither of them indulged in furious political rants that sprayed spittle on those of us who just wanted to make a TV movie.

I have room for just one example

After all those months and all those meetings and all those network-approved writers, we had too little material to launch a series, regardless of whether it was titled From the Tormented Mind of Dean Koontz or Sitting in the Dark with Dean and Roaches or just Deaniac

Let's just forget about it," he replied.

So when my sister-in-law phoned at two in the morning, asking me to come over, but first to warn the police that she had just killed my brother, I spoke in my usual calm manner.

Have you ever tried to explain to a sleepy police officer that your sister-in-law has just phoned to say she has killed your brother with a steam hammer?

I had just managed to pull on trousers and a shirt and grab a hat and coat, when a black Citroen stopped outside the door.

The controls are just here

But this seemed to be just another proof of her madness.

'Isn't my poor sister-in-law's extreme interest in flies just one sign of her madness?'

We were just finishing our lunch and I was pouring some wine into Henri's glass for him to dip a biscuit in

Henri had just proved that Charas seemed to be getting close to some kind of clue in this business with the flies.

Charas was more than just an intelligent and educated police officer

It was just a little later when Henri came running into the room to say that he had caught a funny fly

I had just finished cutting some meat, which was very tough, and said, waving the knife in a way that was not at all appropriate for a vicar, that anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world a favour.

But Mary, who is a servant at the vicarage, just put a dish of unpleasant-looking cabbage on the table and left the room.

'But when I'm trying things just get worse

'We were just talking', said Griselda, 'about Dr Stone and Miss Cram.'

'Don't you think,' said my wife, 'that Miss Cram might just like having an interesting job?'

'You - you saw just now?' she said.

I just don't know what to do

'A murder - or just a robbery.'

I rang up Old Hall, but I was informed that Colonel Protheroe had just gone out

'I've just met him outside.'

'He has been dead just over half an hour, I think

He was not just very energetic, but also extremely rude and bossy

'I'd just like to tell...' I began.

She had seen Anne Protheroe just after the Inspector had told her the news.

We had just sat down to breakfast when she appeared at the door

'Remember, I met him just outside the gate

Inspector Slack said he was coming to see me this morning, but has just phoned to say it won't be necessary.'

'Yes, but that just proves it

'Surely, Lettice, a yellow hat won't be much good to you just now?'

'It was something very different, but I can't say more just now.'

The doctor had just come in and was eating a plate of eggs and bacon in the dining room

'Well, I shall never forget his face when I met him outside my gate, or the way he said, "Oh, you'll see Protheroe all right!" That should have made me suspect what had just happened.' Haydock stared at me

'What do you mean - what had just happened? When do you think Redding shot him?'

At just after a quarter past six

'Miss Marple saw him and Mrs Protheroe leave the studio just after six-thirty

Mary told him that Colonel Protheroe was there, so he went in - and shot him - just as he said he did!'

'And yet, is that possible? Mrs Protheroe would only have just left the study

'Colonel Protheroe just wrote that he couldn't wait any longer

No, Miss Marple didn't think it had been louder, just different

I picked it up - and recognized it as my pistol! And I just thought Anne must have taken it, meaning to shoot herself because she was so unhappy

He said something nice and normal about seeing Protheroe - and I just started shouting

'Do you mind, Mrs Protheroe, just showing us exactly what you did?' Inspector Slack pushed open the glass doors, and she stepped outside and walked round the house to the left

We were just friends

On my way home, Dr Haydock stopped his car beside me just outside his house

'I just wondered..

'That was just my idea,' I admitted.

That was just after two o'clock

'But I always think it wise to suspect everybody just a little.'

If the call had just been a joke, the fingerprints would not have been wiped off so carefully.'

But if only that shot hadn't come just at the end of the call - well, I'd know where to look.'

And just now we must all take notice of Strange Things.'

She heard the church clock just after she had shown him into the study

This was just what he wanted to hear

A train from London was standing in the station and the train for London was just coming in

Dr Stone climbed on the train just before it started.

'Oh, nothing! We were just talking.'

'Well, anyway, Colonel Protheroe sent lots of poor fellows to prison just for shooting at a bird

'He's just gone to London,' I said

Next morning at breakfast, Griselda showed me a note she had just received

'I am sleeping very badly just now, and at about three o'clock this morning I thought I heard someone moving about the house

I had just reached the place so, once again, I pushed my way through the bushes

I just thought something had happened and that was why Mrs Protheroe had asked to see you.'

'He just said he was a bit lonely in the evenings

I crushed the paper in my hand and threw it into the fireplace just as Griselda entered the room.

This was just before six o'clock.'

They left at just after nine o'clock, and at half-past nine exactly, there was a little knock on my study window, and I opened the glass door for Miss Marple to come in.

'Oh!' Miss Marple was just about to step into the garden when she suddenly stopped

I had just sat down at my desk again, when the doorbell rang

Thought I'd just say hello and see if you could give me a drink.'

But why didn't the stupid fellow destroy this one? It just proves he's guilty! Listen, that sounds like a car.' He went to the window

'So you got here just in time/

Then suddenly, just as I was leaving Mr Clement's study, I noticed the plant in the pot by the window - and - well, there it was! Clear as day!'

But Miss Marple just smiled and continued, 'I liked Anne and Lawrence, so when they both confessed in that silly way - well, I was happy that I had been wrong

'Mrs Protheroe and her husband had just gone into the village

Because someone who had just committed a murder would, of course, try to behave normally

When you met him, he had just picked up the stone to take it away.'

'Oh, it was just a thought

Lettice came to see me just after they were arrested

'Could you say, just once, that you love me madly?'

My wife was just about to kiss me when suddenly she pulled away.

'That is not wise just now.' And then her face went pink.

That night, too, there was another sudden cloud of gas from the distant planet as a second missile started on its way to Earth from Mars, just under twenty-four hours after the first one

'Haven't you just been there?' the men asked.

The sun was just setting and the Houses of Parliament stood against a peaceful sky

In Wellington Street my brother met two men selling newspapers which had just been printed

He learned that they were not just a few small crawling creatures, but that they could control enormous mechanical bodies

Unable to learn what was happening from his window, my brother went down and out into the street, just as the sky turned pink with the dawn

He arrived just in time to save them.

We sat in the kitchen in the dark and had a meal of cold food, and just before midnight there was a blinding flash of green light followed by the loudest bang I have ever heard

This face had no nose - I do not think they had any sense of smell - but it had a pair of very large, dark eyes, and just beneath these a kind of v-shaped mouth

A young Martian, we now know, was born on Earth during the war, and it was found growing out of the body of its parent, just like some young plants.

The rest of the time he just talked to himself, and I began to realize that he had gone completely mad.

In the darkness I could just see the thing moving towards me and examining the wall and the floor

'They've lost one - just one

They just used to rush off to work - I've seen hundreds of them, with a bit of breakfast in their hand, running to catch their train, frightened they'd be sacked if they didn't

'But it's no good just staying alive

That's just living like rats

And just as I was beginning to face these things, the soldier stopped digging and looked at me.

I go to London and see the busy crowds in Fleet Street and the Strand, and it comes to my mind that they are just the ghosts of the past, walking the streets that I have seen silent and empty, spirits in a dead city

'"Jack," she said, "when you took my money you said that if I ever wanted some, I should just ask you."

We did not say another word about the case until late that night at Holmes' house in Baker Street, just before Holmes went to bed.

My old Uncle Podger was just like Harris

And, this was just the beginning! George is the worst packer in the world

The pies were crushed, just like the tomato.

We just ate and ate

Harris stood up and said, 'Be thankful for a bit of excitement in your lives! Your lives must be so boring, just sitting and fishing all day

'Well, just put the potatoes in without peeling them

Everything is just her luck

anyway, she will have to wait a little while for that and it is just her bad luck.

She just wishes she could sleep deep and only wake up on the day of her first car ride to work.

It's just that I am sick of everything

'Joe is - mm, fine - but, but I just don't like him.'

And I believed her because I know what they pay her is just not enough to live on

And she is not the type who would borrow money just to buy a pair of shoes; she would just wear her old pairs till things got better

'No, it's just that women allow them to behave the way they do instead of taking some freedom themselves.'

It's just that I didn't think it was a question I was not allowed to ask.'

Your private life is not my business, but you just said yourself that you wanted a man of your own

Let's just sit inside and talk.'

do you mean the army officer who has just been given the job of..

Connie just sits there with her mouth open that wide...

I was surprised to see you - the road was empty just a moment ago.'

I looked at her in surprise and was about to ask her more, but just then I saw a carriage

He was chosen by her father just before he died

'After what you've just said, I want to marry you more than ever,' said Sir Percival

After lunch, Sir Percival said, 'Will you sign this, Laura? It's just a formality

'You're just a guest in this house!'

At first, just after we were married, I tried not to think of Walter

Sir Percival returned yesterday just before lunch

'I just met Anne Catherick by the lake! She looked ill and talked to me strangely

'Don't tell me the secret; just tell me who knows it.'

'Please can I see the register of marriages in this church for the years just before 1804?' I asked.

'That's just what the old parish clerk said,' the man replied

At the inquest the next day, the parish clerk said that the key to the vestry had gone missing just before the fire

I will not sign this letter, and I will not name the gentleman in question - let's just call him Sir P...

Anne turned to him and said, 'You're a miserable impostor.' She had no idea what it meant - she was just repeating my words - but Sir P was terrified

They couldn't just talk about things

They were not happy just cooking and looking after the children

These were just some of the things Amelia achieved

But she did not just play tennis; she also made great progress for women's equality and for women's pay in sport