had been gibbeting

• 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 gibbet.
  gibbet

  noun

  a gallows with a projecting arm at the top, from which the bodies of criminals were formerly hung in chains and left suspended after execution.

Related Words

• clog
• congest
• drown
• fill
• gag
• gasp
• kill
• stifle
• strangle
• suffocate