rob
verb (used with object)
to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
had been robbing
-
past perfect progressiveof rob.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.
Through their interpreter they assumed an air of perfect innocence, affecting great surprise that the horses belonged to the trappers, saying that they supposed that they had been robbing their hereditary foes, the Snake Indians.
From Christopher Carson by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
Taking advantage of this lull, the fugitive declared that the wounded man had been robbing him.
From A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53 by Ellen Clacy
Let us say, for example, that I knew somebody had been robbing the firm, but that I was unable to detect that somebody.
From The Daffodil Mystery by Edgar Wallace
You would have thought he had been robbing a train or something, he looked so absurdly guilty!
From Terry A Tale of the Hill People by Charles Goff Thomson
You remember how Zaccheus, the little, short man who had been robbing the people by collecting too much tax-money, climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Christ pass by.
From Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and Girls by Howard J. (Howard James) Chidley
