telephone
noun
an apparatus, system, or process for transmission of sound or speech to a distant point, especially by an electric device.
had been telephoning
-
past perfect progressiveof telephone.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.
For weeks Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger Altman, national economics chief Robert Rubin and Magaziner had been telephoning corporate CEOs, urging them to stay on the fence and "keep your powder dry."
From Time Magazine Archive
They held the door while they told me there had been telephoning back and forth.
From My Little Sister by Elizabeth Robins
Business took me out of town for ten days, and when I returned home I was told that Archie had been telephoning me all the morning.
From Fore! by Charles Emmett Van Loan
M'Tosh had been telephoning again, and the receiver and his party were on the way to the station.
From The Grafters by Francis Lynde
When I got back to the Yard to alter myself—for I had left my tools there—Emma had been telephoning to me to get the wicked stranger arrested for house-breaking.
From The Lost Naval Papers by Bennet Copplestone
