backbite
verb (used with object)
to attack the character or reputation of (a person who is not present).
were backbiting
-
past progressiveof backbite.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.
I knew it meant “dog,” and I thought at the time they were backbiting him because he never socialized.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
Their editors were refined men of cultivated tastes, whose pet temptations were backbiting, mean slander, and the snobbish worship of anything clothed in wealth and the outward appearances of conventional respectability.
From Theodore Roosevelt; an Autobiography by Theodore Roosevelt
