drain
verb (used with object)
to withdraw or draw off (a liquid) gradually; remove slowly or by degrees, as by filtration.
had been draining
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past perfect progressiveof drain.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 day of my father’s funeral had been draining.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2025
The legal case itself had been draining, with much of the evidence entirely secret and kept from me and the BBC team.
From BBC ● May 21, 2022
The previous 48 hours, since Mark Turgeon and the school agreed to end his Terrapins tenure eight games into his 11th season, had been draining.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 5, 2021
Denella Clark, a supporter of Ms. Janey’s, is upbeat about her candidate’s chances but said the battery of attacks had been draining.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
His face was very white, stone-white, and it seemed to her that for months past the colour had been draining from it, and now at last all colour was gone.
From The Cathedral by Sir Hugh Walpole
