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
In helping the Government to popularize the $2 bill, the Mirror had been printing the numbers of such bills daily and giving away $100 to whoever found them in circulation and brought them back.
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
The sensational magazines had been printing article after article about "The incalculable riches of Alaska," and here were people hoping to pick some of it up.
From Ten Thousand Miles with a Dog Sled A Narrative of Winter Travel in Interior Alaska by Hudson Stuck
