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
They were devoting all their energies to Arabic and Chaldæan science, and in their pursuit of it neglected other literature.
From Notes and Queries, Number 04, November 24, 1849 by Various
