soak
verb (used without object)
to lie in and become saturated or permeated with water or some other liquid.
had been soaking
-
past perfect progressiveof soak.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.
In a shaded courtyard overgrown with succulents, Margarita, with her graying pigtails and brightly embroidered apron, had crushed rice, which had been soaking for an hour or so, on a metate, a hollowed, mortarlike stone.
From New York Times ● Nov. 11, 2021
Her feet were pruning; they had been soaking for hours in a puddle at the bottom of the dinghy.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 3, 2017
IN 1927 John Dos Passos, an American writer and artist, returned from a long stay in Mexico where he had been soaking up the vibrant cultural scene south of the border.
From Economist ● Oct. 27, 2016
For six weeks, Dwight Eisenhower had been soaking up the sun in Palm Desert, Calif., playing golf, working on his memoirs, and keeping his own counsel.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mama was wrestling that hide out of the stream now, where it had been soaking for days and nights, gathering up its scummy, woolly slime.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
