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time was. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
time was, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
time was in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Phrase
time was
- It was once true (that)...; there was a time when...
- a. 1659, Jonathan Mitchell, editor, The Parable of the Ten Virgins Opened and Applied , 1797 edition, volume 2, page 259 :
- Time was, the feet of the messengers of peace were glorious, but now their message is mean; time was, thou wert exceeding tender of the least sin, and not a day past, but thy cheeks were wet in secret before the Lord; now thou art grown blind .
- 1879, John Berwick Harwood, Young Lord Penrith, chapter 34; as serialized in, 1879 June 21, Chambers's Journal, fourth series, number 808; which was reprinted in, Chambers's Journal 1879, page 387 :
- I call him poor; but time was, that in our intercourse I was the obliged party.
2010, Linda B. Nilson, Teaching at Its Best, 3rd edition, Jossey-Bass, →ISBN, page xvii:Liberal arts and community colleges as well as other teaching-centered institutions have always promoted high standards of teaching excellence. But time was that no one really cared much what instructors in more research-oriented universities did in the classroom, as long as it was legal.
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