riot
noun
a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons, as by a crowd protesting against another group, a government policy, etc., in the streets.
had been rioting
-
past perfect progressiveof riot.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.
As a result, there was “no separation between peaceful marchers and those who had been rioting, and no means whereby soldiers could identify and arrest only the latter,” the 2010 inquiry report said.
From New York Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
Hundreds of volunteers were boarding up windows and sweeping away debris; by lunchtime you could barely tell there had been rioting just 12 hours before.
From New York Times ● Dec. 31, 2011
Over my mother’s shoulder I read that there had been rioting in Hankow.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
I told her that there had been rioting in malls all over America, and that no one knew why.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
But a little while ago there came a chaprasi with news that his regiment had been rioting.
From Barclay of the Guides by Herbert Strang
