scan
verb (used with object)
to glance at or over or read hastily.
have been scanning
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present perfect progressiveof scan.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.
Search aircraft from the U.S. and Canada have been scanning the surface, while sonar buoys have been pinging the depths in hopes of locating the lost submersible.
From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2023
For decades, scientists around the world have been scanning the sky, searching for potentially hazardous asteroids in the vicinity of Earth.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2022
Underwater drones equipped with cameras, sonar and lasers have been scanning 100 square miles of seafloor looking for the remains of the 144-foot wooden ship, which sank in 1915 after being crushed in ice.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 19, 2022
For the past month – pandemic and massive snowfalls permitting – Avial and his colleagues have been scanning Our Lady of Sorrows with ground-penetrating radar equipment.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 24, 2021
They have been scanning waves and sky for the first symptom of something like comfort at Plymouth, beginning their anxious outlook long before it was possible to satisfy it.
From A Pilgrim Maid A Story of Plymouth Colony in 1620 by Marion Ames Taggart
