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.
For Bird, the most difficult thing was winnowing down a final list of 20 films.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 22, 2020
I tell thee again, fool," said Don Quixote, "thy imagination is dusty and foul; will it never be beaten out of thy stupid brain, that my lady Dulcinea was winnowing?
From The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
At intervals the cannon boomed, and Schofields' Henry was winnowing the air with his bell; nobody had a better time that day than Schofields' Henry, except old Wilkerson, who was with the procession.
From The Gentleman from Indiana by Booth Tarkington
In a field hard by, a threshing machine was winnowing the Argive grain,—a thing of wonder to the inhabitants, probably an object of suspicion,—the property of a rich land-owner.
From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Julia Ward Howe
A solitary marsh-hawk, far over by the rail fence, was winnowing slowly, slowly hither and thither, lazily hunting.
From The Watchers of the Trails A Book of Animal Life by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
