a-making

Woodrow Wilson said that in America, democracy was "always a-making;" a process of progress, a goal we never quite reach.

Andrei Cherny: A New American Democracy 2008

Bonaparte had been three years a-making his preparations; and to ferry these soldiers and cannon and horses across he had contrived a couple of thousand flat-bottomed boats.

Life's Little Ironies 2006

I was a-making of his toast, Sir Pitt, for his gruel, Sir

Vanity Fair 2006

Swarms are robbed of their honey on the appearance of the wild fig. They produce the best larvae at the time the honey is a-making.

The History of Animals 2002

No secondhand, worn-out things were ever packed up in the boxes they put together; instead, in odd moments throughout the year, they all had projects a-making that were intended to make those who weren't likely to get anything on Christmas a little happier on Boxing Day.

The Gates Of Sleep Lackey, Mercedes 2002

'Twas in the season of the year when hay it was a-making

The Barley Raking 1999

And the words won't be found in Webster's books cho: There's a diesel on my tail a-making ninety miles an hour

Diesel on My Tail 1998

A trip to the pantry, where I stirred the beer mash fermenting in its tub, squeezed out the curds of the soft cheese a-making, and punched down the slow-rising salt bread, ready to be made into loaves and baked in the morning, when the small Dutch oven built into the side of the hearth would be heated through by the night's low fire.

Drums of Autumn Gabaldon, Diana 1997

Would you believe I made more an hour then than I'm a-making right now inspecting socks?

Oral History Interview with Gladys Florene Harris, 1979 August. Interview H-124. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). By Gladys Florene Harris Gladys Florene Harris 1979

When I started to working there, they started me out -- I quit the hosiery mill, and I was a-making $2.40 in the hosiery mill an hour.

Oral History Interview with Gladys Florene Harris, 1979 August. Interview H-124. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007). By Gladys Florene Harris Gladys Florene Harris 1979