retire
verb (used without object)
to withdraw from one's career, occupation, or office, usually because of age.
had been retiring
-
past perfect progressiveof retire.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.
In the years before the pandemic hit, America’s electric utilities had been retiring hundreds of coal plants, replacing them with cheaper and cleaner natural gas, wind and solar power.
From New York Times ● Jan. 10, 2022
He went up, however, directly, with the recklessness of despair; every separate stair creaking and cracking under him, as if a young elephant had been retiring to bed instead of a young man.
From Hide and Seek by Wilkie Collins
They instantly threw open all the other portals, and the populace, who had been retiring like an ebbing tide, now rushed back, and flowed into the building, raging and foaming like an angry sea.
From The Golden Grasshopper A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham by William Henry Giles Kingston
Anderson had been retiring before the Federal advance, on the plank road towards Fredericksburg.
From The Campaign of Chancellorsville by Theodore Ayrault Dodge
