nourish
verb (used with object)
to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth.
had been nourishing
-
past perfect progressiveof nourish.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.
"Please do not say it," she entreated, and he saw the little hope that he had been nourishing dashed away.
From Nedra by George Barr McCutcheon
He had been nourishing imaginary and absurd grievances against Eve for many hours, but her grievance against himself was genuine enough and large enough.
From Mr. Prohack by Arnold Bennett
He threw away impulsively the prudent pride that he had been nourishing.
From A Man Four-Square by William MacLeod Raine
I had been nourishing an anti-slavery spirit since Lovejoy was murdered for publishing in his paper articles against slavery and intemperance, when our home was in Illinois.
From Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe Compiled From Her Letters and Journals by Her Son Charles Edward Stowe by Harriet Beecher Stowe
For some time past he had been nourishing his soul on forbidden fruit,—books that had to be smuggled in and were of course all the more seductive for that very reason.
From The Life and Works of Friedrich Schiller by Calvin Thomas
