Desperate ingenuity and sheer reflex lead to one memorable scene after another, such as when a stowaway rat crawls into Pi's hair, and he flings it at Richard Parker, who catches it with his teeth and swallows it in one gulp.
The first, and most desperate, theory is that sheer tawdriness may release him.
"Sheer foolishness!" "There is no reasoning with desperate people," said Poppa.
When the ride was over, I felt like I was drained from sheer thrills, fear, and I felt a desperate craving for more.
His hollow cheeks, his banked intensity, his palpable sense of solemnity and the sheer immensity of his image gave an air of almost desperate urgency to his words.
The highest standards can in certain instances be achieved by sheer ingenuity, but, in general, shoestring budgets result in that desperate air of "making do"—almost a trademark of academic theatre.
And now, I fear I have settled into a desperate phase where I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of things I want to do, and the absolute absence of a clear choice.
By sheer force of conversation, Maron's guests typically open up, revealing the startling, desperate, and sometimes inspiring existence of the modern clown.
Parents recounted nightmarish tales of sickness and desperate efforts to find medical care in facilities that were rapidly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of children affected.
German forces were defeated not by the sheer numbers (by 1943 millions of Soviet soldiers were dead or captive and the Red Army was desperate for men), but by the inventive tactics and sturdy technology of their enemy.
