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had been swallowing
  • past perfect progressive of swallow.

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.

She would have spoken sooner, but she had been swallowing down the rising tears.

From Under False Pretences A Novel by Sergeant, Adeline

They went into the larger wall-garden and walked along the wide herbaceous borders through a blaze of snapdragons that here all day had been swallowing the sunshine.

From Plashers Mead A Novel by MacKenzie, Compton

Their faces glared, and their mouths gaped open with glistening teeth, as if they had been swallowing water.

From Weird Tales from Northern Seas by Bain, R. Nisbet (Robert Nisbet)

In the evening, at seven o'clock, the sea rolled higher, and the Dane, by means of the greater agitation, eliminated enough of what he had been swallowing to make room for a great deal more.

From Biographia Literaria by Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

The lawyer made his way up the aisle and disappeared through the door which all the morning had been swallowing one small offender after another.

From Calvary Alley by Rice, Alice Caldwell Hegan