had been knuckling

• 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 knuckle.
  knuckle

  noun

  a joint of a finger, especially one of the articulations of a metacarpal with a phalanx.

Related Words

• bow
• break down
• buckle
• capitulate
• cave in
• cease
• defer
• give in
• give way
• go down
• pass away
• perish
• quit
• wilt
• yield