had been extricating

• past perfect progressive

  past perfect progressive

  Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.

  of extricate.
  extricate

  verb (used with object)

  to free or release from entanglement; disengage.

Related Words

• bail out
• detach
• differentiate
• disengage
• disentangle
• extract
• liberate
• rescue