pump
noun
an apparatus or machine for raising, driving, exhausting, or compressing fluids or gases by means of a piston, plunger, or set of rotating vanes.
was pumping
-
past progressiveof pump.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.
In any case, the total is a far cry from the 220 rigs that were active in 2014, when the country was pumping about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, analysts said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
“The adrenaline was pumping, but I was also nervous,” Villareal said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026
The Qataris produced mostly gas and U.A.E. was pumping approximately 3.4 million barrels, accounting for just a few percentage points of OPEC’s overall output.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
Corning bought an empty soybean field across from Hemlock and was pumping out solar wafers 17 months after the first steel went into the ground.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025
The impersonal operator of the machine could, by wearing a special optical helmet, gaze into the soul of the person whom he was pumping out.
From "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury
