devote
verb (used with object)
to give up or appropriate to or concentrate on a particular pursuit, occupation, purpose, cause, etc..
were devoting
-
past progressiveof devote.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.
At the time few researchers were devoting an entire seminar to this little-known material, so his interest was piqued.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2023
Countries in AP’s analysis had as much as 50% of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than one-third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023
Countries in AP’s analysis had as much as 50% of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt.
From Washington Times ● May 18, 2023
Irwin said he questioned why they were devoting so many resources to a case he thought would net only low-level offenders.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 1, 2019
The Turks were devoting their attention to some boats landing well to the left of us.
From Trenching at Gallipoli The personal narrative of a Newfoundlander with the ill-fated Dardanelles expedition by John Gallishaw
