A verb form that is used in progressive verb constructions and may also function as a modifier or a gerund.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It wasn’t so long ago that book publishers and bookstore owners were quailing about the coming of ebooks, like movie theater owners at the dawn of the television age.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
He has been a quailing, simpering paragon of mediocrity.
From Washington Post ● May 10, 2021
Instead, lawmakers, quailing at the union’s opposition, decided only that civilians may be included on the boards — which, in practice, is unlikely to happen.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2016
His three quailing sons, his disspirited wife, even the ants in his garden.
From Time Magazine Archive
But quailing at the thought of Strauss’s certain apoplexy at his withdrawal, he chose to put off the uncomfortable conversation until the last minute.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
