thin
adjective
having relatively little extent from one surface or side to the opposite; not thick.
had been thinning
-
past perfect progressiveof thin.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.
"This poor little ice shelf was just hanging on for dear life in this really warm coastal climate and it had been thinning and getting damaged over the last few decades," said Neff.
From Reuters ● Mar. 25, 2022
But the throngs had been thinning out even before the pandemic brought mass gatherings to a halt.
From New York Times ● Sep. 10, 2021
The parking lot, which had been thinning for years, was almost completely empty, the die-hards finally forced away.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 13, 2020
I steered south-east, and we came out of the scrubs, which had been thinning, on to the great plain, in forty-nine or fifty miles.
From Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated, by Ernest Giles
The two men had crept into a space between two stacks of branches left by the wood-cutters, who had been thinning the fir-tree plantation.
From The Children of Alsace Les Oberl?s by Ren? Bazin
