I really don't know, but I suspect it began merely as a space between walls.

At two in the afternoon it seemed as if the day were merely beginning.

I am merely beginning to see part of it.

But what began merely as a way to get to know some of Woodlawn's residents quickly became an obsession.

She wonders if one night it will merely begin to rain cholera.

I merely began to state that rats are everywhere in this old house.

He begins merely as Les's roommate, but soon becomes the central focus of the plot.

In a sense, his work was done, even though the details were merely beginning.

The man in black did not start or jump; he merely began laying the fire.

There is a point at which people who are cast upon their own resources stop living and begin merely surviving.