jot
verb (used with object)
to write or mark down quickly or briefly (usually followed bydown ).
had been jotting
-
past perfect progressiveof jot.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.
The notebook in which Roy had been jotting down her thoughts in small, precise handwriting lay open on the table, a fragile intermediary in a nearly century-old debate between giants.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2014
For Joanne's 72-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Eva Snapp, had been telling her stories of the Ohio River floods for years, and busy little Joanne had been jotting them down.
From Time Magazine Archive
She had been jotting the callers’ names in Morrie’s small black appointment book.
From "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
"I gather, Sir," remarked my fellow-traveller, after I had put away the writing-block on which I had been jotting down the outline of an article, "that you are a literary man, like myself?"
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, January 5, 1916 by Sir Owen Seaman
“Hullo! what’s the matter?” exclaimed Captain Miles, hearing the order and raising himself up from the cabin skylight where he had been bending over his log-book, in which he had been jotting down an entry.
From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by J. Schonberg
