trim
verb (used with object)
to put into a neat or orderly condition by clipping, paring, pruning, etc..
had been trimming
-
past perfect progressiveof trim.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 88-year-old had been trimming shrubs on a mid-August morning before she slipped and fell into a nearby lagoon that was part of her community for residents ages 55 and up, the Island Packet reported.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023
No eyewitnesses were found, and Humphrey could not say what type of tree the man had been trimming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2022
In the midst of it a man who had been trimming the opposite hedge appeared and stared at me.
From Tono Bungay by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
I had been trimming the rose hedge along the south garden, Aunt Harriet.
From Fifty Contemporary One-Act Plays by Various
"Good-night, Tom; I do hope it will be fine for to-morrow," the black-haired girl was saying at her door, holding in her hand the new hat she had been trimming.
From Impressions of a War Correspondent by George Lynch
