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.
Opponents of the plan were centering their fire on principle and precedent.
From Time Magazine Archive
And these were centering their activities on an object as fearful as anything that ever haunted the mind of a madman.
From The Raid on the Termites by Paul Ernst
Instead, they were centering upon the contents of a fat letter from his sister Priscilla, which his father had just read.
From Virginia of Elk Creek Valley by Mary Ellen Chase
What original cause had started the stampede the fugitives could not guess, but now the fear and anger of the animals were centering upon them.
From Voodoo Planet by Andre Norton
It is easy to be wise after the event, but my thoughts and suspicions were centering more and more around the innkeeper when Penreath was arrested.
From The Shrieking Pit by Arthur J. (Arthur John) Rees
