observe
verb (used with object)
to see, watch, perceive, or notice.
were observing
-
past progressiveof observe.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.
That appears to have been the status many Guard members were observing before the Wednesday shooting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
Over the same mountains where the Palisades fire roared, the supervisor and secretary were observing the state’s nearly 675-acre flagship project to stop the Santa Monica Mountains’ next firestorm from devouring homes and killing residents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2025
That's when astronomers noticed that galaxies were moving too fast given the amount of light they were observing coming out of them.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2024
The scientists were observing chimps in Uganda’s Budongo Forest Reserve in 2017 when some scooped dry bat feces from under a hollow tree and devoured it—the first time the behavior was observed in any mammal.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2024
I was so far beyond ordinary exhaustion that I experienced a queer detachment from my body, as if I were observing my descent from a few feet overhead.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
