Representative Henry A. Waxman, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sounded a somewhat combative note.

"They sat him down in a chair and he seemed very confused, and somewhat combative," Mr. Walsh said.

Though somewhat combative during games-he was prone to sideline outbursts-he was generally regarded by his peers as having great personal integrity.

The double curse of low expectations from both colonial rulers and her own mother may partly explain her somewhat combative personality.

Initially, the two had a somewhat combative association.

Estimated to cost about $850 million over a build-out period of 10 to 15 years, according to Edward Lavernoich, project manager for the city, the development is in an early and somewhat combative stage.

When she was named state author, Ms. Paley responded by saying she was "a somewhat combative pacifist and cooperative anarchist."

But Mr. Sullivan, a 33-year-old Democratic operative studying for the bar exam, proved to be somewhat combative, frustrating Republicans who tried to use his deposition to show inconsistencies.

"We didn't want to follow up Sullivan with Ickes, because we ran the risk of having having two somewhat combative witnesses in a row," one Republican official said.

Amid such a hostile reception it was hardly surprising that Lewis was feeling somewhat combative later on.