cherish
verb (used with object)
to hold or treat as dear; feel love for.
had been cherishing
-
past perfect progressiveof cherish.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.
With a resolve at once to cast away the serpent she had been cherishing, Mademoiselle Scuderi alighted from her carriage.
From The Serapion Brethren. Vol. II by Ernst Theordor Wilhelm Hoffmann
But for many of these years I had been cherishing a dream that I felt must come true to round out my days most satisfactorily.
From Ox-Team Days on the Oregon Trail by F. N. (Frederick N.) Wilson
Hundreds of miles apart, and entirely unknown to each other, the two friends at precisely the same time had been cherishing the same noble purposes.
From The History of Cuba, vol. 1 by Willis Fletcher Johnson
But Wulfrey had been cherishing a hope that the great lake would prove an inlet from the sea, a harbour of refuge into which other ships might be expected to run at times.
From Maid of the Mist by John Oxenham
Individuals met at his hospitable house who had never met before, but who for years had been cherishing in solitude mutual detestation, with all the irritable exaggeration of the literary character.
From Tancred Or, The New Crusade by Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
