past progressive: Meaning and Definition of

past' progres'sive

Pronunciation: [key]
— Gram. Gram.(in English)
  1. a verb form consisting of an auxiliary be in the past tense followed by a present participle and used esp. to indicate that an action or event was incomplete or in progress at a point of reference in the past, as was sleeping in I was sleeping when the phone rang. Also called
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.