dabble
verb (used without object)
to play and splash in or as if in water, especially with the hands.
had been dabbling
-
past perfect progressiveof dabble.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.
Sizemore had been dabbling in music that was “power-pop-y, kind of like Tom Petty worship ...”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2025
He had been dabbling in stand-up as a side project since he was 18, and it felt like a welcome break from the pressures of trying to make it in music.
From New York Times ● May 25, 2023
Schreck had been dabbling in playwriting since she read “Fefu and Her Friends,” by the Cuban-American playwright María Irene Fornés, in college, and “sobbed with some sense of recognition I couldn’t articulate,” she said.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 11, 2019
He had been dabbling in electronic music since he was 12, using tapes and an old Moog synthesizer his parents gave him for Christmas.
From New York Times ● Jun. 22, 2017
It appears that the unhappy creature who is gone had been dabbling in post obit bonds, at present almost valueless, but likely to become available.
From The Life of George Borrow by Clement K. Shorter
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