drown
verb (used without object)
to die under water or other liquid of suffocation.
had been drowning
-
past perfect progressiveof drown.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.
An interviewee had told me that the Coronation in the UK last May was very "fussy" and had been "drowning in nostalgia".
From BBC ● Jan. 15, 2024
Zinn and his wife, Dolores, had been drowning in debt from bad real estate investments.
From New York Times ● Jul. 17, 2018
But the lesson was abruptly interrupted by Dutchy, whose imagination was worked up to such a pitch that I actually believe he thought he had been drowning.
From The Scientific American Boy Or, The Camp at Willow Clump Island by A. Russell (Alexander Russell) Bond
The continued mental effort I had been making had cleared, rather than tired my brain; and I was out of that black sea of horror in which I had been drowning.
From The Car of Destiny by Armand Both
For the same reason I say you were suffocating as surely as if you had been drowning.
From The Mystery of the Green Ray by William Le Queux
