tighten
verb (used with or without object)
had been tightening
-
past perfect progressiveof tighten.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.
The regulatory net had been tightening around capturing orcas in the wild, and going out and capturing more orcas wasn’t in the cards.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Jim Paulsen, chief market strategist at the Leuthold Group, said that financial conditions had been tightening for a while and that inflation was likely to moderate soon.
From New York Times ● May 31, 2022
Global energy supplies had been tightening for months as economies started to reopen as they relaxed pandemic lockdown measures.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2022
That’s something of a u-turn, as policymakers had been tightening policy as its economy recovered.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 8, 2021
It seemed as if a suffocating network had been tightening about his heart and, now that it had burst, the joy of the great and unexpected deliverance was more than his breast could hold.
From Stories by American Authors, Volume 7 by Various
