Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was a desperate sight—men knocking each other down in their haste to get away, and the women who had been spurring them on, now shrieking and groaning like maniacs.
From The Making of Mary by Jean N. (Jean Newton) McIlwraith
At intervals he had been calling up on the telephone at his elbow Zabriskie, the firm's representative on 'Change, and had been spurring him on to larger and more frequent "sales" of Great Lakes.
From The Cost by David Graham Phillips
Then an impulse that had been spurring him for half an hour overmastered him.
From Ray's Daughter A Story of Manila by Charles King
