Nevertheless, the ties of the Catalan counties to the Frankish monarchy had weakened.

Psychological deterioration followed on social disorganization: 'as family, church, and traditional political ties weaken, a psychological atomization takes place.'

The ties that hold me to this land are weakening by the hour.

With each generation, the ties to the land, to the past, weaken, as options and opportunities widen.

With the growing power of the Habsburgs in the area the ties that bound Lucerne to Murbach weakened.

Ethnic ties weakened with assimilation and conflicting views of later immigrants.

Family ties weakened in succeeding ages, so that in families such as mine, where children constituted a majority, they would occasionally protest, "Isn't this a democracy?"

Economically, depopulation led to the impoverishment of East and West as economic ties among different parts of the empire weakened.

But the right wing's ties to the army, which were once extremely close, have weakened markedly in recent years and may never be fully reasserted.

Muzdha said the Taliban's ties to bin Laden had weakened prior to his death.