reserve
verb (used with object)
to keep back or save for future use, disposal, treatment, etc.
had been reserving
-
past perfect progressiveof reserve.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.
"You are tired, Lady Carfax," Lucas murmured, when at length she found her way to the seat beside him that he had been reserving for her.
From The Knave of Diamonds by Ethel M. (Ethel May) Dell
But when Madame de Treymes, at his approach, let him see that it was for him she had been reserving herself, he felt that so graceful an impulse needed no special explanation.
From Madame De Treymes by Edith Wharton
Being thus baffled, he determined to bring in here a point which he had been reserving to use later, should Milton Hibbard decide to take up the question of Peter Junior’s lameness.
From The Eye of Dread by Payne Erskine
She saw that he had been reserving this for a last shot at her, that he realized she had stolen his own ammunition and appropriated it to herself.
From Constance Dunlap by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve
Then, when they talked about sketching, she said how she had missed him, and that she had been reserving the view from Brankham Law, in order that they might sketch it together.
From Adventures of Mr. Verdant Green by Cuthbert Bede
