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.

Even if this is true, understaffing leads to neglect in rehabilitation and excessive idle time.

From Slate • Oct. 8, 2025

The study's co-author Dr Adwait Sharma agreed, saying the device's "idle time" presented "unique opportunities" to meet the "growing need for adaptable robots and integrated systems that can seamlessly fit into our daily lives".

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2025

She was a sickly child and used her idle time to read voraciously.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 14, 2024

The phone for her is a distraction limited to idle time, which has been strategically limited by Romero.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 4, 2024

At that time Aureliano Segundo postponed any appointments in order to be with Meme, to take her to the movies or the circus, and he spent the greater part of his idle time with her.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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