Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many of the buildings had been printing houses that lay dormant awaiting their eventual renovations into luxury lofts.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2018
In 1960, the Times, which had been printing a small edition in Amsterdam, moved to Paris and started a more ambitious international edition.
From Time Magazine Archive
The letter noted gratefully that the press had been printing the company's side of the story in the Suez crisis.
From Time Magazine Archive
His big chance came shortly after World War I. Sears, Roebuck, which had been printing its own catalogue, got fed up with the job.
From Time Magazine Archive
They wanted me to examine the aphorisms and orisonswettmardenisms they had been printing on their weekly envelopes, for the inspiration and peptonizing of their employees.
From Shandygaff by Christopher Morley
