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
Scorpio had been brooding about his much abused deviated septum when a copy of Norman Mailer's Of a Fire on the Moon arrived.
From Time Magazine Archive
By the time Private Lanza waddled into the Special Services offices at the summons of Corporal Johnny Silver, he had been brooding for months over his broken singing career.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Was there any word from her?” prodded Yossarian, who had been brooding incessantly about the girl, wondering how much she was suffering, and feeling almost lonely and deserted without her ferocious and unappeasable attacks.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
