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idle
[ ahyd-l ]
adjective
- not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing:
idle workers.
Synonyms: sluggish
Antonyms: industrious, busy
- not spent or filled with activity:
idle hours.
- not in use or operation; not kept busy:
idle machinery.
- habitually doing nothing or avoiding work; lazy.
- of no real worth, importance, or significance:
idle talk.
Synonyms: trifling, trivial, worthless
Antonyms: worthwhile, important
- having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless:
idle fears.
- frivolous; vain:
idle pleasures.
Synonyms: wasteful
- meaningless; senseless:
idle threats.
- futile; unavailing:
idle rage.
verb (used without object)
- to pass time doing nothing.
- to move, loiter, or saunter aimlessly:
to idle along the avenue.
- (of a machine, engine, or mechanism) to operate at a low speed, disengaged from the load.
verb (used with object)
- to pass (time) doing nothing (often followed by away ):
to idle away the afternoon.
Synonyms: waste
- to cause (a person) to be idle:
The strike idled many workers.
- to cause (a machine, engine, or mechanism) to idle:
I waited in the car while idling the engine.
noun
- the state or quality of being idle.
- the state of a machine, engine, or mechanism that is idling:
a cold engine that stalls at idle.
idle
/ ˈaɪdəl /
adjective
- unemployed or unoccupied; inactive
- not operating or being used
- (of money) not being used to earn interest or dividends
- not wanting to work; lazy
- usually prenominal frivolous or trivial
idle pleasures
- ineffective or powerless; fruitless; vain
- without basis; unfounded
verb
- whentr, often foll by away to waste or pass (time) fruitlessly or inactively
he idled the hours away
- intr to loiter or move aimlessly
- intr (of a shaft, engine, etc) to turn without doing useful work
- intr (of an engine) to run at low speed with the transmission disengaged Also (Brit)tick over
- tr to cause to be inactive or unemployed
Derived Forms
- ˈidly, adverb
- ˈidleness, noun
Other Words From
- i·dle·ness noun
- i·dly adverb
- o·ver·i·dle adjective
- o·ver·i·dle·ness noun
- un·i·dle adjective
- un·i·dling adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of idle1
Word History and Origins
Origin of idle1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
In fact, it's getting so bad that a number of OEMs, including Ford and General Motors, have had to go as far as idling shifts and even entire factories.
Virginia officials said they are temporarily pausing deactivation of idle E-ZPass accounts amid the coronavirus pandemic.
They have been both overstretched in some departments, and rendered idle in others, and although in some cases they have seen increases in patient volume due to coronavirus outbreaks, they have by and large suffered significant financial losses.
Officials hope that makeshift system will free up ambulances now sitting idle outside hospitals because their patients can’t be admitted.
A rare exception came early in the pandemic in March, when an apparel returns warehouse was idled by order of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear after an outbreak there.
And in the summer, when the lift is idle, it feeds juice into the local community.
Middle-aged, out-of-shape Putin sat idle and silent as his dreams and hopes for the future were destroyed.
Any upcoming release of a new Apple product guarantees a deafening cacophony of idle speculation from tech sites.
The rest of the police looked on, sitting idle on horses in front of Starbucks.
The idle rich had driven down from Biarritz with their uniformed chauffeurs.
It's an idle question, I know; wise men and musty philosophers say that regrets are foolish.
He worketh under correction, and seeketh to rest: let his hands be idle, and he seeketh liberty.
There was a deep silence throughout the whole bivouac; some were sleeping, and those who watched were in no humour for idle chat.
While the fortress was undermining at home, they were not idle, who were preparing to storm it from abroad.
The lower class were idle and lazy, and willing to serve any sovereign who appealed to them by ostentation.
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