droop
verb (used without object)
to sag, sink, bend, or hang down, as from weakness, exhaustion, or lack of support.
had been drooping
-
past perfect progressiveof droop.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.
For more than a year, the wings of high-flying People Express had been drooping under the heat of intense competition.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the topmost tower of the castle the royal standard, which had been drooping against the flagstaff, filled out and waved freely in the breeze.
From The Sleeping Beauty by Arthur Rackham
Throughout the year 1815, Major John Scott had been drooping.
From Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) by J. G. (John Gibson) Lockhart
I trained the vines which had been drooping round our old house,--the gray time-worn house; the "natural-colored house," the neighbors called it.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 38, December, 1860 by Various
The boy had been drooping sadly of late—the heat tried him—and, as Audrey knew, Biddy's homely dishes seldom tempted his sickly appetite.
From Lover or Friend by Rosa Nouchette Carey
