hear
verb (used with object)
to perceive by the ear.
had been hearing
-
past perfect progressiveof hear.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
What he didn’t realize was that millions of people around the world had been hearing all about him.
From Slate ● Apr. 19, 2026
Pulte, President Trump’s outspoken head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, had been hearing from lenders and others about the rising costs of credit-scoring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2025
She said her mentors had been hearing about leaders having to deal with "a reduction in staff, low salaries and an inability to cope with the cost of living".
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2025
For years I had been hearing about the island of Pantelleria, the craggy, hard-to-get-to Eden with middle-of-nowhere tranquillity that sits 89 miles southwest of the island of Sicily and about 50 miles east of Tunisia.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
Even as far back as Lansing, I had been hearing about how fabulous New York was, and especially Harlem.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
