smart
verb (used without object)
to be a source of sharp, local, and usually superficial pain, as a wound.
had been smarting
-
past perfect progressiveof smart.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.
I could not bring it into play; it was overwhelmed, buried, lost in those earlier feelings which I had been smarting under year after year.
From Persuasion by Jane Austen
The officers and men of the 32d Ohio had been smarting under the false accusation of "Harper's Ferry cowards," and had longed for an opportunity of retrieving their reputation.
From Four Years A Scout and Spy by E. C. Downs
Fenleigh J., who had been smarting under that "Leave it till you've left school," chuckled with delight, and began to think that he liked Helen quite as much as Barbara.
From Soldiers of the Queen by Harold Avery
I could not bring it into play; it was overwhelmed, buried, lost in those earlier feelings which I had been smarting under year after year.
From Memoir of Jane Austen by James Edward Austen-Leigh
For years the friends of aristocratic authority had been smarting under the growing influence of the crown.
From The History of England From the Accession of Henry III. to the Death of Edward III. (1216-1377) by William Hunt
