Sentence:  Not only <WSD>were</WSD> the court costs prohibitive , but I was subjected to crippling fines , in addition to usurious interest on the unpaid `` debts '' which the governmen claimed that Metronome and I owed - a severe financial blow . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)