stew
verb (used with object)
to cook (food) by simmering or slow boiling.
had been stewing
-
past perfect progressiveof stew.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.
The essays were exciting because she put a label on a debate that had been stewing for a long time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 12, 2017
For days Newt Gingrich had been stewing over how to make his best and final offer to Clinton.
From Time Magazine Archive
Last spring, he wrote Death of a Salesman in a six-week spurt; it had been stewing in his head for ten years.
From Time Magazine Archive
The wild fowl had been cut up into pieces, and, with rice biscuits and other ingredients, had been stewing in the pot in which all their meals were cooked, officers and men sharing alike.
From Ned Garth Made Prisoner in Africa. A Tale of the Slave Trade by William Henry Giles Kingston
All the evening they had been stewing in an atmosphere like that of the inner room of a Turkish bath, and they were ready for anything.
From The Head of Kay's by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse
