mend
verb (used with object)
to make (something broken, worn, torn, or otherwise damaged) whole, sound, or usable by repairing.
had been mending
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past perfect progressiveof mend.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.
Also employed there were Condé’s actual brother, Ivan — the two had been mending their strained relationship — and Condé’s eldest son, Kaíque, 18, working his first job and happily saving up for a car.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2022
But until then relations between the neighboring giants had been mending.
From Time Magazine Archive
I had been mending a sweater as I told him the story, but I’d had my eyes closed, because only in memory could I truly see.
From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman
And as she suddenly remembered that on the night before the storm she had been mending her uncle's clothes, the recollection almost moved her to tears.
From The Girl Crusoes A Story of the South Seas by Mrs. Herbert Strang
There is a great deal of pleasure in a patch of that kind,” she said, holding up the sleeve she had been mending.
From Christie Redfern's Troubles by Edward Barnard Lintott
