Sentence:  In theory , compulsive behavior is a way of diminishing anxiety , and one might expect a negative association except for the possibility that for <WSD>many</WSD> children the obsessive-compulsive defenses are not sufficient to quell the amount of anxiety they suffer . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by `as' or `too' or `so' or `that'; amounting to a large but indefinite number