Other entrepreneurs are now looking at ways to shed the shareholders they once courted and to escape the public scrutiny and additional operating costs.

We expect it to be as different from the original as you are from the dapper fellow my mother once courted.

Mr. Lanin, himself, once courted and married.

Self's wariness of fame will strike some as ironic, given that he once courted a certain sort of bad-boy notoriety.

I remember another girl Annie courted once.

To boost their parliamentary fortunes, they talked tougher than Russia's most hard-line generals and turned a deaf ear to the Western officials they once courted.

In his eyes the whole mainstream-television ecosystem is suspect, including MTV, which he said once aggressively courted him with a broadband deal.

"I once courted an actress," said Elemak.

Once courted by the Government or used to counter leftist critics, Islamists are now increasingly on the defensive.

Gomez is jealous of his brother, who once courted Morticia.