idle time

British

noun

commerce time during which a machine or a worker could be working but is not, as when one job has been completed and tooling or materials for the next are not complete or available Compare downtime

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Idle time is detrimental to people in recovery.

From New York Times • Jan. 3, 2020

Idle time for the unplugged is Mark Zuckerberg’s handiwork, so make sure you are replacing the digital distractions with something vastly more attractive in the real world.

From The Guardian • Dec. 25, 2018

Idle time, insurance, obsolescence, depreciation, taxes go on whether business is done or not.

From Time Magazine Archive

Idle time is idly spent; but the wit and fun of Mr. Hook that day might have delighted a hundred by-sitters, and it was a grief to me that I was the only listener.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 90, April, 1865 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023