riot
noun
a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons, as by a crowd protesting against another group, a government policy, etc., in the streets.
were rioting
-
past progressiveof riot.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.
"The people that were rioting, in my opinion, are stupid. I condemn them 100%."
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2024
“Not all those people there were rioting against the police, but those people who were, they can expect to be identified and arrested and put before the courts,” Webb said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 17, 2024
His vivid dispatches of what he described as gente afligida — oppressed people — breaking into stores for daily essentials put him in demand locally and nationally to explain why Latinos were rioting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2022
Instead, the violence appears to have stopped mainly because of the protesters’ own determination to avoid being smeared by accusations they were rioting.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2020
What did it mean, that students were rioting?
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
