In the novel he serves as a sort of sinister shadow, portending the violent fate of the king.

Indeed, after the market closed yesterday, another bellwether, Motorola Inc., said it too would not meet quarterly earnings estimates, possibly portending further selling pressure today.

In Europe and Asia, there has been little evidence that many new wireless services can actually make money for the companies that provide them, portending an industry shakeout.

And in "Blackberry-Picking," he ominously describes "a rat-grey fungus" creeping over a fresh cache of fruit, portending rot and decay.

Either way, party leaders agree that their nominee is almost certain to be determined by people who are not current members of the party, portending a frantic and expensive organizing contest.

In 857, the Annales Bertiniani reported a dog sitting on the archiepiscopal throne of Trier, an event which may have been interpreted as portending the fall of Theotgaud in 863.

In 1906, a variety of Carl Jung's unusual dreams of the period were interpreted by Freud as portending the "failure of a marriage for money" (das Scheitern einer Geldheirat).

And they do much more than simply portend things to come.

Everyone knew that its sound portended the death of someone in the house within the year.

The moment portends a great deal, as it turns out.

I need not tell you, my friends, what all this portended.

But the sounds, to those here, no longer seemed to portend war.

This is a serious problem and what it portends for the future.

What that portends for the next few weeks and the coming months, Houston could not say.

What does that portend for how he will use his leisure time?

A call at this hour portended an emergency of some sort.

They said the move portended a higher profile for environmental issues in foreign policy.

Diabetes, in turn, portends the almost certain development of heart disease.

But again it is not clear whether this portends broader problems.

Does this portend any progress in other cases of concern?

It portends that a great being has entered this world.

That does not portend a great deal of excitement in the months ahead.

And it may portend changes in some of the programming that Americans see at home.

He saw a few clouds, but nothing to portend danger.

And, does that experience portend the end of humanity as we know it?

This year, the continued bad news from Iraq could portend a similar outcome.

"The real problem we face is what this portends for the future.

What does all this portend for the treatment of drug addiction?

And we have talked about what this portends for the future of the Empire.

He stood still, and asked himself what this circumstance might portend.

Hopefully, it did not portend a sign of bad things to come.

But no one knew and nothing seemed to portend a resolution of the struggle.