past perfect

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ˈpast ˈper•fect,  adj. 

1. Grammar relating to or being a verb tense or form in English made up of had followed by the past participle, and indicating
   • that the action or state expressed by the verb was completed before some other point of reference in the past:
     Long before the police arrived (= reference point in the past), the burglar had left the scene of the crime (= the leaving was completed).
   • that the action or state expressed by the verb extended up to, or had results continuing up to, some point of reference in the past:
     I had never seen anything like it (= from before that time in the past, and up until that time the speaker had not seen such a thing).

n. 

2. Grammar [uncountable] the past perfect tense.
3. Grammar [countable] a form in this tense.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

past′ per′fect, 

Grammar pluperfect.

• 1885–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

past perfect adjective

1. denoting a tense of verbs used in relating past events where the action had already occurred at the time of the action of a main verb that is itself in a past tense. In English this is a compound tense formed with had plus the past participle

noun

1. the past perfect tense
2. a verb in this tense