Sentence:  At last , even the controlled Torrio <WSD>was</WSD> unable to hold still , and he tentatively suggested that O ' Banion should take a percentage in the Stickney brothels in return for one from his Cicero beer concession . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)