had been eying

• 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 eye.
  eye

  noun

  the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

had been eying

Campbell had contributed money to Finkenauer’s campaign but also had been eying Franken.

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2022

Crandon had been eying Revel for a year.

From The New Yorker ● Sep. 7, 2015

Lieberman was 45 years old and had been eying Washington for a while, having lost a 1980 congressional race to Republican Larry DeNardis.

From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2011

"What'll you bet?" demanded Allan Harding, who had been eying the canoeists sharply.

From The Rival Campers Ashore The Mystery of the Mill by Ruel Perley Smith

Silas, who had been eying him, also gave a loud laugh and said with his ponderous voice, "I guess Heppy's been tellin' ye about my goin' up."

From Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks A Picture of New England Home Life by Charles Felton Pidgin

Related Words

• check out
• contemplate
• inspect
• look at
• scan
• scrutinize