First he was a mere shadowy outline that was never fully above the level of conscious vision.

The sources for his life are scant which makes the reconstruction of his biography beyond a mere outline nearly impossible.

There was the merest outline of whatever it was that was behind them.

It became transparent, faded to a mere outline and then it was gone.

Joseph could see very little, what might have been a figure at his threshold, a mere outline, darkness against darkness.

She became once more a mere globular outline, self-contained, at rest.

It threw little illumination on Father Brown himself, who seemed a mere dark outline against the dim sunset window behind him.

The Ringworld was a mere outline, white threads against starscape.

All Jack could see was the mere outline of a figure sitting in the backseat directly behind the driver's seat.

He glimpsed the mere outline of the hawklike face that went with those eyes.