swelter
verb (used without object)
to suffer from oppressive heat.
had been sweltering
-
past perfect progressiveof swelter.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.
A week previously we had been sweltering in moist heat, and it was the only time I ever saw a mosquito in Norway.
From Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by William Senior
The day had been sweltering hot—the thermometer at noon ranging about the one-hundredth Fahrenheit degree, while in the first hour of darkness it could not have been far above the twentieth.
From The War Trail The Hunt of the Wild Horse by Mayne Reid
