Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Churchill was apparently fond of the line, as he had been trotting out versions of it since the 1930s.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2019
Like a good boy, Tommy had been trotting ten miles daily on the Rockaway Beach boardwalk.
From Time Magazine Archive
Tree-ear had been trotting along the road on his early- morning perusal of the village rubbish heaps.
From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park
One cold day Toby had been trotting up and down in his usual place before the church, when the bells chimed twelve o'clock, which made Toby think of dinner.
From Charles Dickens' Children Stories by Charles Dickens
What their object was I cannot say, for three of them had been trotting along the footmarks, while the rest of the tribe in a body kept pace abreast of them.
From Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2 by Thomas Mitchell
