crush
verb (used with object)
to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms.
had been crushing
-
past perfect progressiveof crush.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 each admission that followed, I exhaled with relief over speaking the secret that had been crushing me for so long.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2020
But Markey had been crushing opponents for a generation.
From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2013
It had been crushing for Regina to have to sign the authorization releasing the sixteen-year-old from the school.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
“Put it there, Fats,” the girl who had been crushing the can said.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
The awful deadly weight that had been crushing him, the consciousness to wit, that by his own foolhardy obstinacy, he had brought Melian into ghastly peril—was that which afflicted him most.
From The Heath Hover Mystery by Bertram Mitford
