construe
verb (used with object)
was construing
-
past progressiveof construe.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
I really believe that, like a good Calvinist with a sound minister tried and proven, my father allowed himself a little nap by way of refreshment while Fred Esquillant was construing.
From The Dew of Their Youth by S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett
At the hasty disappearance, Olive looked up with a bitter little smile, that would have instantly disclosed to an observer, how she was construing the act, and how she was hurt in spite of herself.
From Six Girls A Home Story by Frank T. (Frank Thayer) Merrill
"You must remember you are translating poetry," said a conscientious master to a boy who was construing Virgil.
From Joyous Gard by Arthur Christopher Benson
We had seen little of him the last week; save when he was construing he had taken refuge in his own room.
From Frivolous Cupid by Anthony Hope
Scarcely out of his long clothes, he was construing Herodotus and the dialogues of Plato, and the whole of his dreary youth was spent in covering the vast field of the moral and mathematical sciences.
From Fabre, Poet of Science by Bernard Miall
