hibernate
verb (used without object)
to spend the winter in close quarters in a dormant condition, as bears and certain other animals.
have been hibernating
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present perfect progressiveof hibernate.present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
“He should not have been hibernating for 20 years.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 14, 2022
"If anybody is completely surprised by this, I think they have been hibernating," said Peter Schaffrik, head of European interest rate strategy at Royal Bank of Canada.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 19, 2013
Creatures who should have been hibernating deep underground had been roused by that vicious weather.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
The familiar yellow wasps, which have been hibernating during the cold weather, emerge from their hiding-places and begin to construct their umbrella-shaped nests or combs, which look as if they were made of rice-paper.
From A Bird Calendar for Northern India by Douglas Dewar
Night and day were the same to them; and as Dallas said, from the hunger they felt they might have been hibernating in a torpid state for a week, for aught they knew.
From To Win or to Die A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze by Paul Hardy
