1.   Stairs of dark wood curved up from the hall, and the old treads creaked under their combined weight.

2.   But the combined weight of local prosecutors and a key regulatory agency apparently forced it to settle.

3.   But when the combined weight of these developments failed to severely buckle the market, analysts said, buyers stepped in and prices mostly recovered.

4.   By throwing their combined weight behind Java, Sun and IBM hope to establish a standard operating system that will make NCs more attractive to large corporations.

5.   By the eighth section, the combined weights of the seven liners already in place have three of the men heaving en masse.

6.   If the dam and pool are large enough the combined weight can strain roof supports.

7.   Initially, most Shelburne employees were cowed into silence by the combined weight of a hostile press and the government investigation.

8.   It is just a matter of time before Irwindale disappears into a giant sinkhole from the combined weight of its Big Mac eaters and the lawyers who represent them.

9.   On Haiti, Clinton took on the combined weight of public opinion, Congress and virtually the entire foreign-policy establishment.