estimate
verb (used with object)
to form an approximate judgment or opinion regarding the worth, amount, size, weight, etc., of; calculate approximately.
had been estimating
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past perfect progressiveof estimate.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.
Before today, analysts had been estimating growth of about 10 percent, he said.
From BusinessWeek ● Jan. 12, 2012
The first analysis of it had revealed that there were just 30,000 genes in it, not the 100,000 that many had been estimating until a few months before.
From Time Magazine Archive
One top Ford Administration economist, who had been estimating that prices would be rising at a 6% rate at year's end, now privately predicts 7%.
From Time Magazine Archive
Evidently he had been estimating the distance of the house from the tree back of which he stood, and worked with the light of a shaded pocket flashlight.
From Guy Garrick by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
On the table lay a pair of jewelers’ tweezers and a magnifying glass, therefore it was apparent that, as a connoisseur of gems, he had been estimating their value.
From The Golden Face A Great 'Crook' Romance by William Le Queux
