During

//ˈdjʊə.ɹɪŋ// name, prep, verb

name, prep, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of dure form-of, gerund, participle, present
Preposition
  1. 1
    For all of a given time interval; throughout; in; pending.

    "I lived with my parents during the 1970s."

  2. 2
    At any time or period within a given time interval.

    "I lived with my parents at several points during the 1980s."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. rare

    ""What a woman she is!" muttered Biddy, stooping to pick up the scattered potatoes, "I don't see what Providence meant, a-putting such a saint along with an ugly, growling man like Mr. During. I believe he's in his second childhood, I do! […]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
on occasion ofoverpendingsimultaneouslythroughthroughout

Example

More examples

"I slept a little during lunch break because I was so tired."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English during, durynge, durinde, durand, durende, present participle of duren (“to last”), equivalent to dure + -ing. Compare Dutch gedurende (“during”). More at dure.

Etymology 2

Anglicisation of German Dühring or Düring.

More for "during"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.