snip
verb (used with object)
to cut with a small, quick stroke, or a succession of such strokes, with scissors or the like.
had been snipping
-
past perfect progressiveof snip.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.
Mrs. Riversedge, who had been snipping off the heads of defunct roses, and thinking of nothing in particular, sprang hurriedly to mental attention.
From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki
"They wouldn't be men if they weren't—" Mrs. Carmichael had begun, when she broke off, and the scissors that had been snipping their way steadily through the rough linen jagged and dropped on the table.
From The Native Born or, the Rajah's People by Wylie, I. A. R. (Ida Alexa Ross)
An elderly gardener who had been snipping and sweeping in the next house came up and vaguely recognized her as a well-known Bruxelloise, a good-natured lady, a foreigner who, strange to say, spoke Flemish.
From Mrs. Warren's Daughter A Story of the Woman's Movement by Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir
"Did you ever hear Father Mac?" said an old laborer, dressed in the ancient Irish fashion, but old Father Time had been snipping at his garments as he couldn't touch himself.
From My New Curate by Sheehan, Patrick Augustine
