develop
verb (used with object)
to bring out the capabilities or possibilities of; bring to a more advanced or effective state.
were developing
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past progressiveof develop.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.
A top researcher at Anthropic quit this week over fears that AI companies were developing systems they couldn’t control, while other Anthropic employees warned that AI could wipe out humanity if not properly contained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
But Pacala and Socolow quickly turned to their newest work: a simple framework they were developing to bring CO2 emissions under control immediately using methods that already existed.
From Salon ● Jun. 26, 2026
Muñoz reasons that these planets could have interacted with their surroundings in ways astronomers could never have anticipated as they were developing.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025
"We were developing a vaccine test to see how well that works, and then we would trial it on humans," Abdullah Ely, an Associate Professor at Wits University, tells the BBC in his lab.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2025
Gilbert and Galileo were developing a new type of science, based upon systematic experimentation.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
