IDLE


Meaning of IDLE in English

I. ˈīd ə l adjective

( idler -d( ə )lə(r) ; idlest -d( ə )lə̇st)

Etymology: Middle English idel (also, empty, void), from Old English īdel; akin to Old Frisian īdel empty, worthless, vain, Old Saxon īdal, Old High German ītal

1.

a. : lacking worth or basis : leading to nothing : groundless , useless

idle theorizing

an idle rumor

it would be idle to argue further

b. : having no particular reason for existing or occurring : light, casual, and superficial

idle chatter

took an idle glance about

asked out of idle curiosity

2.

a. : not occupied or employed: as

(1) of a person : having no employment or business : unemployed

closed factories and idle workmen

(2) of a period of time : marked by want of activity especially of a useful or constructive nature : wasted

passed his idle days in sloth

that idle hour just before dusk

(3) of a thing : not turned to normal or appropriate use

idle tenements

: not called into active service

idle capital

b.

(1) : given to rest or ease : seeking to avoid labor or employment : trifling , lazy , slothful

a careless idle worker

idle boys playing in the streets

(2) : having no regular occupation or evident lawful means of support

answer to the charge of being an idle person

(3) : idling

an engine running at fast idle speed

3. now dialect England

a. : lightheaded, foolish

b. : mischievous

Synonyms: see inactive , vain

II. verb

( idled ; idled ; idling -d( ə )liŋ ; idles )

intransitive verb

1. : to lose or spend time in idleness

idling in the garden

especially : to move idly

idled along the stream bank

2. : to run disconnected or unloaded so that power is not used for external or useful work — used especially of a motor, engine, pulley wheel

transitive verb

1. : to spend (as time) in idleness — often used with away

idling away a pleasant summer day

2. : to make or leave idle

cutbacks in orders that idled thousands of workers

the common cold idles more people than any other disease

3. : to cause to idle

idle a motor

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: idle (II)

: an act or instance or the state of idling

an engine running at idle

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.