The phrase all leads exhausted seemed to jump out at him.

A good phrase, however, seems to me to have an independent existence.

"I don't know, I'll get back to you," seemed to be her phrase of the day.

The phrase of concession seemed to be forced from him.

Have you noticed how certain phrases seem to take hold?

Oddly, that phrase seemed to work some sort of magic.

The phrase seemed to have started in the 1950s or 1960s.

It was, in fact, the only moment of the evening when the phrase "family values" seemed to have a clear meaning.

Then something strange happened (in boxing that phrase seems to be mentioned a lot).

The phrase "I love you" had lost its effectiveness and seemed to be said merely out of routine.