Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At these concerts, as throughout the season, there was a sense that Geffen Hall, rather than bringing together this mass of instruments in a blooming blend, was etching the sound, hard, in the air.
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2023
The same year, Taiwan Semiconductor was etching shapes less than half that size onto scores of millions of chips for Apple.
From New York Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
And the acid of that knowledge was etching the designs of character upon a physical adolescence unprepared for such biting reaction.
From The Firing Line by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers
That was etching his past rather too sharply.
From The Guarded Heights by Wadsworth Camp
“I just adore that bead-loom you made, Zan,” now said May Randall, working industriously at the chest she was etching in pyrography.
From The Woodcraft Girls in the City by Lillian Elizabeth Roy
