She wasn't to know that, for her sake, he had forced himself to a control he could barely maintain.

Her engines were ticking over, so she barely maintained steerage.

Now she was moving past the beach, about two miles off shore and barely maintaining steerageway.

What could be an angelic voice sounds instead like someone barely maintaining his sanity.

The ship felt as if she were barely maintaining headway.

Two strong men could barely maintain her course.

The weight had been miscalculated and, during the flight, the aircraft could barely maintain altitude.

She flailed there for a second, barely maintaining her balance.

He could barely maintain the mental energy to proceed from one moment to the next.

It could barely maintain unity within itself, let alone claim to be the legitimate government of all China.