search
verb (used with object)
to go or look through (a place, area, etc.) carefully in order to find something missing or lost.
had been searching
-
past perfect progressiveof search.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.
That observation gave the team the mechanism they had been searching for.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 1, 2026
Blossom said she had been searching for Fargo's owners, attaching a paper collar to him.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
“The only machinery that has arrived was brought by the families of the people who are trapped underneath,” said Karen Marchan, 37, who had been searching for her mother, Cecilia Gutiérrez, in Caraballeda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
I had been searching for a Midcentury Modern table for my new apartment, 33 floors above downtown L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Twenty years, she had been searching for the Book.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
