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.

As a result, the company had been focusing on improving profits by keeping down costs—including wages—while sales stagnated.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

A hit came back identifying one of those make and models belonging to Heuermann, who lived in a neighborhood police had been focusing on because of cellphone location data and call records, authorities said.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 4, 2023

Marta, who has been working at Inditex for 15 years, had been focusing on brand image and fashion at Zara, the business which contributes 70% of Inditex's revenues.

From Reuters • Dec. 13, 2021

The 29-year-old had been focusing on the 200m in the build-up to the Games but failed to reach the qualifying time.

From BBC • Jul. 17, 2021

Working for the Soros Foundation, a privately funded philanthropy organization, Goldfarb had been focusing on a very specific health crisis—a hundred thousand inmates in Russian prisons with active TB.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French