You won't see these teams knocking the ball aimlessly out of bounds, or bashing it ahead in mere hope that something positive will happen.

As feminists learned 150 years ago, progress isn't made by mere hope; the vaulters need a leader.

This must go further than the mere "hope" that the beneficiary of the will will act in accordance with its terms.

In this activity, she had more than a mere forlorn hope.

That she remained alive and entire was the merest hope.

But she held to what she trusted, even if trust had become mere hope.

The president would do well to listen to Mehlman's words in creating policy built on something firmer than mere hope.

We have something much better than mere hope, Ahlvyn.

He was willing to take the moral responsibility for a hundred deaths in return for the mere hope of seeing her again.

We shall all, however, have to keep a careful eye on this so that it does not remain a mere hope.