collide
verb (used without object)
to strike one another or one against the other with a forceful impact; come into violent contact; crash.
had been colliding
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past perfect progressiveof collide.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.
“The rings just happen to have the exact mass that one would expect if they had been colliding and spreading for four billion years,” Canup says.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 18, 2019
