subdue
verb (used with object)
to conquer and bring into subjection.
was subduing
-
past progressiveof subdue.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.
Remember Jemel Roberson, the armed Illinois security guard who was subduing a gun-wielding assailant — and wearing a hat that said “SECURITY” — when police arrived?
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2018
The Forsyte in him was bent on the acquisition of a certain strain of blood, and he was subduing resolutely as yet the Dartie hankering for a flutter.
From To Let by John Galsworthy
His fingers twitched and his eyes were glassy with the malevolence he was subduing.
From Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon
His shaggy brows were contracted; somber, baleful flashes, that betrayed something of those passions that he was subduing, showed in his eyes as the pony skirted the timber where Randerson had tied Ruth’s horse.
From The Range Boss by Frank Earle Schoonover
Pompey was subduing the Marian faction in Spain, a new danger broke out in the midst of Italy.
From General History for Colleges and High Schools by Philip Van Ness Myers
