assert
verb (used with object)
to state with assurance, confidence, or force; state strongly or positively; affirm; aver.
were asserting
-
past progressiveof assert.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.
By the time the Hyksos were asserting their control over parts of the Nile delta, Egypt was already well into what historians of the nineteenth century dubbed the Second Intermediate Period.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
“They were asserting the triumph of life over death.”
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 29, 2018
They were defending evolutionary science and secular values, but as much as anything they were asserting their right to attack the beliefs of others, regardless of how cherished those might be.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 26, 2018
The reason they paraded yesterday through my neighborhood with their flags and signs wasn’t just because they were asserting power.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2017
They were asserting that the exarchate had ceased in political theory as well as in practical fact.
From The Church and the Barbarians Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003 by Hutton, William Holden
