phrase

• So as to — better.

  ‘he leaned closer the better to hear her’

  More example sentences

  • ‘I lift myself on my elbows the better to hear the rest of their conversation.’
  • ‘He gripped my hand and pulled me slightly towards him, the better to hear, and I remember thinking that he smelt very nice.’
  • ‘So we stepped outside, blinking in the suddenly warm sunlight, and leaned our heads against the door, the better to hear the conversation going on inside.’
  • ‘The sound is indeed bright and clear most of the time, all the better to hear the glorious pop songs playing from the wireless.’
  • ‘They quieted, however, when the Elder waved a hand to shush them, the better to hear what else the Imkill had to say.’
  • ‘Whatever is out there, Crosby is investing his bonus sightings from last year with trigger cameras and night-vision glasses, all the better to find it.’
  • ‘Not unmixed praise, to be sure - but it was part of Marx's strategy to praise capitalism more fervently than the most naive liberal, all the better to bury it.’
  • ‘I'm sure it's time I had a consultation exercise on something or other - all the better to keep the civil servants busy while I watch the telly.’
  • ‘Best to show up with a lot of photos of your cats or your grandchildren, the better to facilitate conversations with those around you.’
  • ‘What's more, Google is aiming to link together patterns in your web searching and your inbox, the better to deliver ads.’
  • ‘Cam's own table was at the stairhead, the better to greet and farewell his guests, and to ask a favoured one occasionally to join him for a quick drink.’
  • ‘It's all fuel for thought, mind's wheels turning, a tap of my industrial frustrations, the better to be able to write in the morning.’
  • ‘The girls wanted a wide range of music - all the better to attract a wide range of listeners - but there is a unity to their selections.’
  • ‘A slider on the side of the contact sheet lets you instantly enlarge and examine hundreds of pictures at a glance, the better to find the one you're hunting for.’
  • ‘On entering, I switch it off, the better to concentrate on what a shiny, show-off, thieving bunch the old Venetians were.’
  • ‘Cars used by the unit were Opel saloons adapted with four-wheel drive - the better to escape opposition security forces.’
  • ‘I went to the French doors in the study the better to enjoy this daily treat, and to relish in the racket of honking and wing-flapping as they passed over.’
  • ‘Nor are the tables arranged in long rows, as they are in Germany, all the better to sway in unison to the tunes of raucous drinking songs.’
  • ‘Some of them had paid for front rooms and seats at windows of houses facing the prison, all the better to witness the last moments of a dying man.’
  • ‘The harbour is to be dredged, and a pontoon will be built across the middle, the better to accommodate sailing cruisers.’