govern
verb (used with object)
to rule over by right of authority.
were governing
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past progressiveof govern.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 times Friday, it felt as if the mechanics of our entertainment culture were governing our responses.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 28, 2023
Where a normal elected official might feel obliged to stick around the place they were governing, Bloomberg as mayor had a habit of going missing from the city.
From Slate ● Feb. 13, 2020
Somewhere in the background, while Jimmy McGill was turning into Saul Goodman, you were governing New Mexico.
From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2018
The Baltic states had revolted against Soviet power; their own national authorities were governing in parallel with Moscow.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 15, 2017
In a word, they were governing a country to which they really had no access.
From Abraham Lincoln, Volume I by John T. (John Torrey) Morse
