She was unattractively dressed in a puce-colored robe that hung loosely on her and had such long dangling fringes that they made her look like a skinny poodle coming out of the water.

She brandished her umbrella like a club.

After greeting Gervaise, she said, "You've no idea.

The heat in the street is like a slap on the face.
You'd think someone was throwing fire at you." Everyone agreed that they knew the storm was coming.

It was in the air.
Monsieur Madinier said that he had seen it as they were coming out of the church.