Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It’s one of the things that John Madden had harped on for the last few years about making sure that there’s more opportunities for offensive linemen to develop,” Rivera said.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 26, 2021
We had harped upon the same old string so long—or at least Alice had—that, not unfrequently, even we smilingly asked ourselves whether it were likely that our day-dreaming would ever be realized.
From The House An Episode in the Lives of Reuben Baker, Astronomer, and of His Wife, Alice by Eugene Field
And I saw as well the reason why she had harped so on needing 'a friend.'
From Captain Macedoine's Daughter by William McFee
He had harped on one string of his vocal apparatus so long that like Jeshuran of old "it waxed fat and kicked."
From The Gentleman from Everywhere by James Henry Foss
So she had harped on these till she had rendered him to a frenzy.
From In a Little Town by Rupert Hughes
