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.
And with the advanced warning, their fans globally had been steeling themselves for this moment.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2023
They had been steeling themselves to watch the video over the coming weekend, when they were promised by the State House committee that they would see it before the public did.
From New York Times ● Jul. 13, 2022
She had been steeling herself for days for the ordeal of this parting.
From The Red Debt Echoes from Kentucky by Everett MacDonald
He had been steeling himself for the ordeal; schooling himself with arguments; fortressing his resolve, unconsciously, perhaps, with the picture of his own heroism in braving the unknown.
From The Homesteaders A Novel of the Canadian West by Robert J. C. Stead
Mitchell had been steeling himself to hear from her, but it seemed that she took the whole thing as rather a good joke.
From Laughing Bill Hyde and Other Stories by Rex Ellingwood Beach
