Sentence:  We were forbidden to swing on the gates , lest they sag on their hinges in a poor-white-trash way , but we could stand on them , when they <WSD>were</WSD> latched , rest our chins on the top , and stare and stare , committing to memory , quite unintentionally , all the details that lay before our eyes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)