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idle
[ ahyd-l ]
adjective
- not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing:
idle workers.
Synonyms:
Antonyms: ,
- 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: , ,
Antonyms: ,
- having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless:
idle fears.
- frivolous; vain:
idle pleasures.
Synonyms:
- 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:
- 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
/ ˈɪə /
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
- ˈ, adverb
- ˈԱ, noun
Other 51Թ Forms
- ··Ա noun
- · adverb
- ··· adjective
- o·ver···Ա noun
- ܲ·· adjective
- ܲ··Բ adjective
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of idle1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of idle1
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
For now the cottages stand idle by the glass-walled motel office and its rakishly tilted roof.
In particular, one of the three towers that has been idle for more than 50 years but somehow reenergized the day the fire began, has been a center of attention.
We want dialogue, but we will not sit idle if we are attacked.
It once had a coffee shop, but that space is now idle.
This is a selfish way to glide through life, and it also describes the dominant philosophy of the idle rich, especially when the ruling class goes on vacation with their princes and princesses in tow.
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