mumble
verb (used without object)
to speak in a low indistinct manner, almost to an unintelligible extent; mutter.
had been mumbling
-
past perfect progressiveof mumble.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.
Everybody had been watching them except Harold who, though addressing his father, had been mumbling "what chaps had said" to his plate.
From This Freedom by A. S. M. (Arthur Stuart-Menteth) Hutchinson
The little fellow was badly infected with eczema, and for three weeks one of the lamas in the tiny temple near their yurt had been mumbling prayers and incantations in his behalf, without avail.
From Across Mongolian Plains A Naturalist's Account of China's 'Great Northwest' by Roy Chapman Andrews
Meanwhile Miss Forrest had clung tremblingly to my arm; Miss Forrest's aunt had looked fearfully, first at Voltaire, then at me; while Miss Staggles had been mumbling something about showing me out of doors.
From Weapons of Mystery by Joseph Hocking
She— "Did you speak?" asked the governess, in her musical voice, turning toward Nan inquiringly, and then the girl suddenly realized that she had been mumbling her thoughts aloud.
From The Governess by Charles R. Chickering
When the meeting adjourned, the lank unhealthy swaying creature in the corner, who had been mumbling the tractate Baba Kama out of courtesy, now burst out afresh in his quaint argumentative recitative.
From Children of the Ghetto A Study of a Peculiar People by Israel Zangwill
