The 59-to-39 vote showed a dismaying number of senators standing up for the dubious perks.

A dismaying number of seconds passed before she could even move.

Add - but it would be figuratively,if not mathematically, apt to say, subtract - a dismaying number of theaters that have folded in more than a decade.

There are a dismaying number of coincidental meetings of characters.

A dismaying number of his recent works seem simply dashed off, as if the artist expects everything he touches to become an instant masterpiece.

There was a dismaying number of young women strolling along, examining colourful fabrics, chattering happily among themselves.

Reading the Tarot is taken with deep seriousness by a dismaying number of people - having the Hanging Man turn up can cause great anguish.

Also - and this is odd since one goal of "Situation: Comedy" is to try to revitalize the form - a dismaying number of the submissions sounded very familiar.

Such vessels cannot challenge dromons, of course, but are more formidable than the description would suggest, not least because they are capable of accommodating a dismaying number of armed men.

Financial planners report a dismaying number of clients who assume that nothing can go wrong with a bond purchase - especially if the bond receives a coveted triple-A rating.