thicken
verb (used with or without object)
to make or become thick or thicker.
were thickening
-
past progressiveof thicken.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.
While the school groups slipped off for lunch, the throngs of grown-ups in the Flemish galleries were thickening.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2019
The trees were still too thin to overlap and form real walls, but they were thickening up as everyone stood and watched.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
The shadows were thickening on the ground, and the voices of the forests were hushed.
From Arms and the Woman by Harold MacGrath
Difficulties, indeed, were thickening around it; but their discussion was perhaps felt to be premature, and they were permitted to accumulate without debate, until fortified by fresh testimony into unexpected and overwhelming preponderance.
From A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century Fourth Edition by Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke
It appears to me, Mark, as if difficulties were thickening around us; and yet this fear may only be the apprehension which springs from mystery.
From The O'Donoghue Tale Of Ireland Fifty Years Ago by Charles James Lever
