idle
Part of speech: adj
verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: engineering
games
gaming
mechanical
mechanical-engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
Etymology: From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel, from Proto-West Germanic *īdal, from Proto-Germanic *īdalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), ijl (“rareified, skinny”), iel (“thin, slender”); German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”); German eitel (“vain, conceited”); and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).
Inflected forms:
form: more idle
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most idle
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: idles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: idling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: idled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: idled
pos: verb
tags: past
form: idles
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Empty, vacant.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
gloss: Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
pos: adj
examples: idle hours
My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.
The majority of accounts require no minimum balance and charge no monthly service fee. Where monthly fees and balance requirements exist, they're low. You earn no interest on the idle money in the account.
gloss: Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
pos: adj
examples: idle workmen
Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
gloss: Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
pos: adj
examples: an idle fellow
“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital,[…]!”
gloss: Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
pos: adj
examples: an idle story;  idle talk;  idle rumor;  idle threats;  idle pleasures
gloss: Light-headed; foolish.
pos: adj
tags: obsolete
examples: The youth is idle
gloss: To spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: […] the ne'er-do-anything-at-home who idled his day in immaculate attire and who was banished to Canada on a "remittance," shares his pork and beans with the sourdough, who has scratched rocks and sifted black sand from his infancy.
While idling the hours I trace verses / On the inside of wrappers embellishing cans Of Bordeaux mackerel, caught in Monterey.
he […] lay in his blind idling the hours until the rising tide would send the shorebirds in across the marsh. Not far off two sons of Southern Italy were lazily transferring a stack of cut salt hay to a one horse hay cart.
'If I know William, he'll be settled in some airy corridor, idling the hours until he can ride in comfort.'
gloss: To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: to idle in an IRC channel
He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]
gloss: Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: When train heating is in operation the diesel engine is arranged to idle at 550 r.p.m. which is the minimum at which the generator will deliver its full rated output.
High levels of all pollutants were found during time idling in stations.
gloss: To cause (an engine) to idle (run at a slow speed, or out of gear).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: The driver idled his engine until the car finally stalled.
gloss: To make (workers, students, etc) idle; to leave without work.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: [L]ayoffs idled 1,900 workers in Ohio and 1,000 in Indiana. At the same time, an Indiana assembly plant recalled 1,200 workers.
gloss: The state of idling, of being idle.
pos: noun
gloss: The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.
pos: noun
examples: a lumpy idle
A slight valve tap was audible at idle but was not noticeable otherwise.
gloss: An idle animation.
pos: noun
gloss: An idle game.
pos: noun
Related words: idling speed
Derived words: bone-idle
bone idle
idle as Ludlam's dog
idle asset
idledom
idleful
idle game
idle hands are the Devil's playthings
idle hands are the devil's playthings
idle hands are the devil's tools
idle hands are the Devil's tools
idle hands are the devil's workshop
idle hands are the Devil's workshop
idlehead
idleheaded
idlehood
idleness
idle pulley
idleship
idlesome
idle threat
idle time
idle wheel
idling
idlish
idly
nonidle
overidle
the devil makes work for idle hands
idle hands make work for the Devil
idle hands make work for the devil
the Devil finds work for idle hands
the devil finds work for idle hands
the Devil makes work for idle hands
unidle
idler
idlingly
nonidling
Translations: