brood
noun
a number of young produced or hatched at one time; a family of offspring or young.
had been brooding
-
past perfect progressiveof brood.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I wouldn't want her to think I was pressuring her or implying that I had been brooding all this time.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 26, 2018
Not Dickens so much, though I’m deeply flattered and embarrassed by the comparison, but I don’t see Dickens as a realist and I had been brooding on the realist novel.
From New York Times ● Jun. 13, 2012
She was Mrs. E. Noel Durant, 61, a retired banker's wife who had been brooding over her health.
From Time Magazine Archive
Reston had been brooding about the problems that would face a newly elected U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lilienthal had been brooding all day over a pending decision by President Truman about expanding the nation’s nuclear arsenal, a $319 million proposition pushed assiduously by the Pentagon.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
