had been feathering

• 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 feather.
  feather

  noun

  one of the horny structures forming the principal covering of birds, consisting typically of a hard, tubular portion attached to the body and tapering into a thinner, stemlike portion bearing a series of slender, barbed processes that interlock to form a flat structure on each side.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

had been feathering

He had been feathering his nest in the material sense.

From Bakemono Yashiki (The Haunted House), Retold from the Japanese Originals Tales of the Tokugawa, Volume 2 by James S. (James Seguin) De Benneville

And the crowd stood round endeavouring to account for the nakedness of the land, until a remark that the Commune had been feathering their nests with the chairs and tables dispersed them laughing.

From The Insurrection in Paris by Davy (An Englishman)

Related Words

• fringe
• plume