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.
On the fore-deck groups of sailors and firemen belonging to both vessels were fraternizing.
From The Stowaway Girl by Louis Tracy
According to the fugitives from Paris, the insurrection had triumphed, the troops of the line were fraternizing with the rebels, and the Guard was retiring on Saint-Cloud to gather round the King.
From Memoirs (Vieux Souvenirs) of the Prince de Joinville by Lady Mary Sophia (Hely-Hutchinson) Loyd
The bulletins of the fighting are contradictory and obscure, but by 3rd Nov. Russians and Germans were fraternizing on the Riga front, and on 20th Nov. hostilities ceased.
From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 3: Estremoz to Felspar by Various
The generals shook their heads sadly, for they saw that the Poor Men and the Rich Men were fraternizing and exchanging cigarettes, and they knew that the war was over.
From The Book of Gud by Harold Hersey
The hunters from the glacial plains of Canada were fraternizing with the volunteers from Australia and New Zealand.
From Mare Nostrum (Our Sea) A Novel by Charlotte Brewster Jordan
