1.   But by Thursday evening, he said his client needed the weekend to decide whether she wanted to prolong the ordeal.

2.   For the first three days of his nightmarish captivity, Lalit Verma kept silent, fearfully guarding the secret that he knew would prolong his ordeal.

3.   The half-hearted biligualism only serves to prolong an ordeal.

4.   We did not rescue the inhabitants of that wretched place -- only prolonged their ordeal.

5.   For Republicans, there is the threat that scandal-weary Americans will hold them accountable and punish them at the polls for prolonging the ordeal.