hoot
verb (used without object)
to cry out or shout, especially in disapproval or derision.
had been hooting
-
past perfect progressiveof hoot.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.
“You’ve got your own attorney general, Tom Miller, in the house,” he said in Waterloo, Iowa, two weeks ago, immediately quieting the crowd, which had been hooting and hollering.
From New York Times ● Aug. 27, 2012
“Here were all these ladies who had been hooting and hollering with their handbags swinging over their heads,” Ms. Corrigan said.
From New York Times ● Jul. 9, 2010
The owl had been hooting in the daytime in the same old horse-chestnut tree from which it had a short time ago foretold the young woman's death.
From Birds and Man by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
A Horned Owl had been hooting not far away.
From Two Little Savages Being the adventures of two boys who lived as Indians and what they learned by Ernest Thompson Seton
Probably that great horned owl had been hooting for some time, but we had been too busy to notice.
From The Killer by Stewart Edward White
