Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue into or have direct relevance to the present.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The toll of its re-entry into earth’s atmosphere has etched and discolored some of these.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
Now, in the kind of serendipitous turn only October can create, Klein has etched his name into World Series lore.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
In opting to go public this way, Catherine has etched a place for herself in the annals of the British royal family and among the women of the House of Windsor.
From New York Times ● Mar. 23, 2024
“The one you barely recognize, the one whose face war has etched its tiniest details into.”
From Slate ● Nov. 29, 2023
Time with an unsteady hand has etched thin crooked lines, and, deepening the hollows, has cast the original expression into shadow.
From Pageant of Summer by Richard Jefferies
