What's the difference between merely and solely?

Merely


Definition:

  • (adv.) Purely; unmixedly; absolutely.
  • (adv.) Not otherwise than; simply; barely; only.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Interphase death thus involves a discrete, abrupt transition from the normal state and is not merely the consequence of progressive and degenerative changes.
  • (2) By way of major complications, merely one perforation occurred.
  • (3) Indeed, the nationalist and religious right bloc merely held steady , gaining just one seat.
  • (4) A brief review of the last decade or so of developments in health politics, policy and law suggests that health is no longer a field of mere "dynamics without change."
  • (5) The view that testes found lateral to the external ring and which could be pushed some way into the scrotum were merely retractile was questioned.
  • (6) In these three patients, laxity of the knee in flexion was so severe that posterior instability could not be corrected merely by patellar relocation.
  • (7) It has so far returned a mere $6m (£3.6m) of its relatively meagre $28m (£17.1m) budget, according to Forbes, a percentage of just 21%.
  • (8) In the literature this disease is presented merely as a metastasis.
  • (9) The plasmid-encoded activity does not merely replace the RecBCD enzyme failure but differs in several significant ways.
  • (10) Furthermore, changes between merely perceived identical parts can result in apparent depth.
  • (11) Thus, the long stalks of Sk1 or phosphate-starved caulobacters are not merely a function of their longer doubling times.
  • (12) Exogenous macromolecular DNA was able to repair, to an important degree the radiotoxic effect of 3H-thymidine on V79 cells by a mechanism other than the mere reduction of specific activity of 3H-thymidine.
  • (13) Multiple contacts between the gamma-subunit and calmodulin (delta-subunit), as indicated by our data, may help to explain why strongly denaturing conditions are required to dissociate these two subunits, whereas complexes of calmodulin with most other target enzymes can be readily dissociated by merely lowering Ca2+ to submicromolar concentrations.
  • (14) Scott insisted he was an abstract painter in the way he felt Chardin was too: the pans and fruit were uninteresting in themselves; they were merely "the means of making a picture", which was a study in space, form and colour.
  • (15) The charity Bite the Ballot , which persuaded hundreds of thousands to register before the last general election, is to set up “democracy cafes” in Starbucks branches, laying on experts to explain how to register and vote, and what the referendum is all about (Bite the Ballot does not take sides but merely encourages participation).
  • (16) These outcomes further supported the conclusion that the contextual stimuli exerted true conditional control over conditional relations in the equivalence classes and were not merely elements of compound stimuli.
  • (17) A mere glance at the time courses shows what reaction schemes are inapplicable.
  • (18) Since the discovery of the antidepressant effects of interventions in the sleep-wake cycle, a number of hypotheses have emerged according to which disturbances in sleep physiology are not merely expressions but essential components of the pathophysiology of depression.
  • (19) In a Facebook post , the songwriter and activist claims that Swift has merely chosen sides in the battle between Google and Spotify, saying that the singer was trying to “sell this corporate power play to us as some sort of altruistic gesture in solidarity with struggling music makers”.
  • (20) It is assumed that one function of grooming behaviour may be a merely cleansing one.

Solely


Definition:

  • (adv.) Singly; alone; only; without another; as, to rest a cause solely one argument; to rely solelyn one's own strength.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Although solely nociresponsive neurons are clearly likely to fill a role in the processing and signalling of pain in the conscious central nervous system, the way in which such useful specificity could be conveyed by multireceptive neurons is difficult to appreciate.
  • (2) In 2012, 20% of small and medium-sized businesses were either run solely or mostly by women.
  • (3) Mieko Nagaoka took just under an hour and 16 minutes to finish the race as the sole competitor in the 100 to 104-year-old category at a short course pool in Ehime, western Japan , on Saturday.
  • (4) Solely infectious waste become removed hospital-intern and -extern on conditions of hygienic prevention, namely through secure packing during the transport, combustion or desinfection.
  • (5) This suggested that carcinogen-induced error incorporation during DNA synthesis was restricted solely to the treatment of a deoxynucleotide template.
  • (6) Tests in which the size of the landmark was altered from that used in training suggest that distance is not learned solely in terms of the apparent size of the landmark as seen from the goal.
  • (7) Today the physician who treats women with emotional problems during menopause cannot function solely as a psychotherapist; he must deal with both their soma and psyche.
  • (8) Several oilseed and legume protein products were fed to rats as the sole source of dietary protein, and in blends with cereals for the determination of protein efficiency ratio (PER) and biological availability of amino acids.
  • (9) In contrast, newly formed secondary myotubes are short cells which insert solely into the primary myotubes by a series of complex interdigitating folds along which adhering junctions occur.
  • (10) "It's a very open question as to whether this will come," said a diplomat in Brussels, adding that Cameron could find himself in the lonely position of being the sole national leader urging a renegotiation.
  • (11) Considering those portions of the molecule that can be deleted without a loss of catalytic activity, one is left with a catalytic center of approximately 130 nucleotides that is solely responsible for the molecule's activity.
  • (12) A brevibacterium, strain TH-4, previously isolated by aerobic enrichment on the monocyclic monoterpenoid cis-terpin hydrate as a sole carbon and energy source, was found to grow on alpha-terpineol and on a number of common sugars and organic acids.
  • (13) The results showed that patients with and without GOR disease cannot be separated solely on the basis of the standard manometric test, even adopting more parameters besides the traditional DOS pressure measurement.
  • (14) The favorable prognosis is due solely to the fact that women with an IUD have far less negative antecedents and that the EP probably occurred due to impaired ciliary action, reversible when the IUD is removed.
  • (15) Phosphate appears to be incorporated solely into serine residues.
  • (16) In the medium to long term, sole primary treatment by tamoxifen delays more definitive therapy.
  • (17) In the patients with aplastic anaemia the iron flux was diminished, but never eliminated, demonstrating that the exchangeable compartment was not solely erythroblastic, but included non-erythroid transferrin receptors.
  • (18) Suction mammaplasty can be used as a sole technique in congenital asymmetry or in post-reduction enlargement or asymmetry.
  • (19) The presence of grouped microcalcifications as the sole indicator of malignancy was seen in 100% (seven of seven) of the patients in the 30-39-year age group, 64% (18 of 28) in the 40-49-year age group, 37% (11 of 30) in the 50-59-year age group, 30% (seven of 23) in the 60-69-year age group, and 23% (six of 26) in the 70-85-year age group.
  • (20) If you and your mother are joint tenants, when she dies you will become the sole owner of the whole property even if her will says that she is leaving her share to someone else.