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 had been storming for days, but as the brothers walked across the field, the rain scattered and only clouds remained.
From New York Times ● Jun. 10, 2021
"Really" said the Frenchman to an old woman who had been storming and fretting at Napoleon, "the Emperor, my master would feel himself infinitely grieved, if he knew how hard your lady-ship thought of him."
From A Review and Exposition, of the Falsehoods and Misrepresentations, of a Pamphlet Addressed to the Republicans of the County of Saratoga, Signed, "A Citizen" by An Elector
Those who had the even ground to traverse, broke easily in; but they who were to assail the rampart, were as grievously battered from above, as if they had been storming a wall.
From The Reign of Tiberius, Out of the First Six Annals of Tacitus; With His Account of Germany, and Life of Agricola by Thomas Gordon
From the state of the brooks, now swollen into raging torrents, it was evident that the storm had been storming all day.
From The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
For nearly a week Jack Welles had been storming, to any one who would listen to him, about the "low-down" thief who nightly took his can of fishing worms.
From Rosemary by Josephine Lawrence
