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.
And he was a Partridge, who after the manner of his kind had been wintering under a snow-drift, and now came forth to greet the pleasant spring.
From Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles Godfrey Leland
They had been wintering back of the woods, but starvation had driven them forth in an attempt to reach Dawson City for supplies.
From To Alaska for Gold The Fortune Hunters of the Yukon by Edward Stratemeyer
In the year 870 the Danes, who had been wintering at York, marched through Mercia into East Anglia and took up their quarters at Thetford.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 10 "Echinoderma" to "Edward" by Various
Here, too, came her father, from Nice, where he had been wintering, having devoted his days to the pleasing duty of taking care of himself.
From The Lovels of Arden by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon
In the first place, the Roman army, which had been wintering in Capua, rose in open mutiny; and the poorer Plebeians in the city, who were oppressed by debt, left Rome and joined the mutineers.
From A Smaller History of Rome by Sir William Smith
