obtain
verb (used with object)
to come into possession of; get, acquire, or procure, as through an effort or by a request.
had been obtaining
-
past perfect progressiveof obtain.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.
Although Starlink isn’t active in Russia, Moscow’s forces had been obtaining terminals from middlemen who sent them from other countries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 21, 2026
Mr. Klee noted that patients had been obtaining the ingredients on their own for some time, buying the taurursodiol supplement from Amazon and paying up to $11,000 a month for the sodium phenylbutyrate.
From New York Times ● Sep. 30, 2022
The manner of the young man who had been obtaining goods in Dave’s name was so aggressive that many a youth would have been intimidated and inclined to withdraw.
From Dave Porter and His Double Or, The Disapperarance of the Basswood Fortune by Stratemeyer, Edward
Up to the time the United States entered the war, Germany, in spite of the watchful British fleet, had been obtaining large supplies from the United States through Holland, Denmark, and the Scandinavian peninsula.
From The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Volume II by Hendrick, Burton Jesse
It had not been noticed that in these minor assaults the English had been obtaining positions of strategic importance, and that they were steadily getting ready for an English offensive.
From History of the World War An Authentic Narrative of the World's Greatest War by March, Francis Andrew
