experiment
noun
a test, trial, or tentative procedure; an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle, supposition, etc..
had been experimenting
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past perfect progressiveof experiment.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 researchers had been experimenting with especially small magnetic disks, shrinking them from several micrometers down to just a few hundred nanometers.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2026
Knowing this, Corps biologists had been experimenting with draining a reservoir known as Fall Creek until it nearly replicated the original river channel.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2023
He had been experimenting with acrylic paint, which is easy to mix and fast-drying, to create striking designs.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2023
The truth is that by the time of the collapse, he had been experimenting with grids and fragmented portraiture for more than a decade.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2016
Though it had been experimenting with other philosophies for several centuries, when threatened with schism it turned orthodox once again.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
