The novel's sporadic references to racial politics and America's evolving social mores also feel like gratuitous add-ons, penciled in later in an effort to lend this claustrophobic drama some extra dimension and heft.

Instead, Mr. Clinton altered his plan of inviting lawmakers to the White House in favor of making a trip to Capitol Hill that lent symbolic heft to his pledge to work with Congress.

Mr. Sibille breaks no sweat under the scrutiny, giving a quiet, concentrated performance that lends heft to less than revelatory material.

Many of the songs that have lent newfound heft to his reputation are simple, no-nonsense rumination on feelings and facts of urban American life, including "Soda and Soap" and "Beautiful".

A cynical reader might think that the seven short stories that round out "Model Behavior" were tacked on to lend heft to an anorexic novel.

This has repeatedly returned Gore to the same shaky ground - his political ability - while lending heft to a related doubt about him: that he is a programmable man guided more by tactics than beliefs.

They lend academic heft to arguments over how fast - and on what terms - the Baby Bells should be allowed to offer long-distance service.

Her powerful, dark soprano lends emotional heft to songs that run all the way from "Moon of Alabama" to "Foolish Heart."

Coming now, his comments appeared to lend heft to the attacks Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani unleashed on the authority last week, also charging that it had long been biased toward New Jersey.

She can lend heft to a merge.