The ministry's diminished power was underscored late last year, when ANA, Japan's second-largest airline, dealt an embarrassing blow.

All the same, a trial of the S.E.C. lawsuit could be another embarrassing blow not only to Ms. Stewart's image but to the fortunes of her company.

But now we have the opportunity to strike an embarrassing blow while the CHOAM auditors are present.

The solid, stable rule of the Cardassian Central Command against the embarrassing terrorist blows and upheaval following the rise of the Detapa Council.

The release of the two, Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20, was an embarrassing blow to the Metropolitan Police, which had led the raid.

The Legislature succeeded in dictating to him the size and nature of a huge tax cut, an embarrassing blow.

France's decision, in defiance of the commission ruling, was seized by the British government's political opponents as an embarrassing blow to Mr. Blair's efforts to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.

The problems are an embarrassing blow to Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Still, a trial could be an embarrassing blow to Ms. Stewart's image and to her company.

The shooting today was an embarrassing blow to the country's effort to allay security concerns ahead of the Olympic Games.