Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Barbecue experts say it’s important that he picked up his first nomination only after his 2017 move to Charleston, although Scott and his family have been smoking meat in Hemingway since the 1970s.
From Washington Times ● May 21, 2018
Anecdotal evidence from Ho-Chunk members I interviewed also suggests fewer people have been smoking in the past few years.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 29, 2018
Agrees University of Chicago Astronomer W. David Arnett: "There have been smoking guns, but we've never seen the act committed before."
From Time Magazine Archive
"I expect you have been smoking pheasants, but they're Langrigg bird's, not ours."
From Partners of the Out-Trail by Harold Bindloss
But there was no discovery made, the constables setting it down to accident, saying that the men must have been smoking; and once more the fen was left to its own resources.
From Dick o' the Fens A Tale of the Great East Swamp by George Manville Fenn
