Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For years, people had been ducking down those stairs to urinate in a little alcove, up against a door to the elevator and escalator repair division.
From New York Times ● Mar. 17, 2020
But his eight-year-old daughter Dora has just latched on to her father's wealth and recently asked him "a question that I had been ducking all summer".
From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2010
Cohn drove his sharpest verbal barb at Adams when telling about Adams' telephone call to ask why Cohn had been ducking him.
From Time Magazine Archive
They had noticed how I had been ducking all invitations to join them for ice skating at Fivemile Creek Park or for kicking a soccer ball around.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
I had been ducking him, and he knew it.
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
