AOL opted to pay Bertelsmann, a German media conglomerate, $6.7 billion in cash instead of stock for its half-stake in AOL Europe, taking on a load of debt that has virtually immobilized AOL Time Warner.

State legislators know they need to adopt stricter cost-control measures, but, like some members of Congress, they have been virtually immobilized by lobbying on all sides.

He was virtually immobilized, and his indecisiveness deeply shamed him.

This has virtually immobilized the deer, and, said Gerry Lavigne, a deer biologist for Maine's fish and game agency, unless there is a significant warming trend in the next six to eight weeks, the state's herd is "going to suffer some pretty severe losses."

Tethered as I was to plastic tubing that linked me to suction in the wall behind my bed, I was virtually immobilized, and so was treated every day to the rumbling arrival of the monstrous portable X-ray machine.

Disappointing many analysts and investors, Mr. Parsons said that he expected 2003 to be "a reset year" with no growth in profits as the company strives to whittle down the huge $26.5 billion debt that has virtually immobilized it.

When the temperature falls below 50, most snakes are virtually immobilized.

The 32-year-old British fighter was virtually immobilized and turned away with Collins, 31, throwing punches at his head.

Central Gdansk Immobilized Earlier today, as the authorities sought to diminish the effect and mute the message of the Pope's visit, central Gdansk was virtually immobilized by police roadblocks.