Idiomatic Prepositions — Vulnerability, Control & Power (C2)

Until the upgraded telephone exchange comes into service later this year, the small businesses in the valley will remain almost entirely ___ a single ageing copper line that is increasingly prone to long unscheduled outages.

Once the manuscript has been returned to the editor with our final round of changes, the entire production timetable is effectively ___ the typesetter's scheduling team in Glasgow.

A whole generation of younger composers in central Europe perished ___ the authoritarian regimes of the middle decades of the last century, and a great deal of unfinished work has been lost as a result.

For much of the third week of January the entire eastern seaboard found itself ___ a particularly intense cold snap, the like of which the older inhabitants could not previously recall.

Despite his nominal seniority on the board, by the third year he was so plainly ___ the chair's personal chief of staff that very few of his own initiatives could be carried through to a vote.

Five fully equipped meeting rooms, two private dining suites and a dedicated concierge team are entirely ___ guests for the duration of the company's residential retreat.

A long-running investigation by the regional newspaper has produced strong circumstantial evidence that two of the most senior planning officers in the borough are ___ the largest local developer.

___ sounding terribly old-fashioned, I do think these long student-led seminars work best when at least one senior figure is willing to take a clear position from the outset.

For most of her ten years as health correspondent, Helena has been ___ a steady stream of fairly graphic complaints, hate mail and the occasional outright threat from members of the public.

The current Secretary of State for Education appears to be openly ___ several of the recommendations contained in his own department's recently published consultation paper, a circumstance that is creating obvious difficulties.

The two senior officers were quietly redeployed to the western district ___ the regional commissioner himself, in what their colleagues understood to be a punishment posting for the previous month's briefing leak.

Cardinal Richelieu, ___ a king who barely concealed his preference for the company of musicians, found himself drawn ever deeper into the daily administration of a state he had not initially wished to govern.

Once the radio mast collapsed during the second night of the storm, the crew of the smaller of the two vessels found themselves entirely ___ the increasingly chaotic Atlantic weather for the next eleven hours.

"You can stop worrying about your father now," the consultant said, ushering us into the small side room, "he is ___ the very best transplant team that any hospital in the country can offer."

The new chief executive has been at considerable pains to keep the senior leadership team ___ the regulator's most politically sensitive work, in the hope of preserving the institution's formal independence.