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Definitions for: Idle
[adj] not having a job; "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"
[adj] not in active use; "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"
[adj] not in action or at work; "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"
[adj] not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
[adj] lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"
[adj] silly or trivial; "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"
[adj] without a basis in reason or fact; "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"
[v] run disconnected or idle; "the engine is idling"
[v] be idle; exist in a changeless situation; "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"
Webster (1913) Definition: I"dle, a. [Compar. Idler; superl. Idlest.] [OE. idel,
AS. [=i]del vain, empty, useless; akin to OS. [=i]dal, D.
ijdel, OHG. [=i]tal vain, empty, mere, G. eitel, Dan. & Sw.
idel mere, pure, and prob. to Gr. ? clear, pure, ? to burn.
Cf. Ether.]
1. Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable;
thoughtless; silly; barren. ``Deserts idle.'' --Shak.
Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. --Matt.
xii. 36.
Down their idle weapons dropped. --Milton.
This idle story became important. --Macaulay.
2. Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate
use; unemployed; as, idle hours.
The idle spear and shield were high uphing.
--Milton.
3. Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing
nothing; as, idle workmen.
Why stand ye here all the day idle? --Matt. xx. 6.
4. Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy;
slothful; as, an idle fellow.
5. Light-headed; foolish. [Obs.] --Ford.
Idle pulley (Mach.), a pulley that rests upon a belt to
tighten it; a pulley that only guides a belt and is not
used to transmit power.
Idle wheel (Mach.), a gear wheel placed between two others,
to transfer motion from one to the other without changing
the direction of revolution.
In idle, in vain. [Obs.] ``God saith, thou shalt not take
the name of thy Lord God in idle.'' --Chaucer.
Syn: Unoccupied; unemployed; vacant; inactive; indolent;
sluggish; slothful; useless; ineffectual; futile;
frivolous; vain; trifling; unprofitable; unimportant.
Usage: Idle, Indolent, Lazy. A propensity to inaction
is expressed by each of these words; they differ in
the cause and degree of this characteristic. Indolent
denotes an habitual love to ease, a settled dislike of
movement or effort; idle is opposed to busy, and
denotes a dislike of continuous exertion. Lazy is a
stronger and more contemptuous term than indolent.
I"dle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Idled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Idling.]
To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed
in business. --Shak.
I"dle, v. t.
To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed
by away; as, to idle away an hour a day.
Synonyms: at liberty(p), baseless, bone-idle, bone-lazy, dead, faineant, frivolous, goldbricking(a), groundless, inactive, indolent, irresponsible, jobless, lackadaisical, laze, lazy, leisure(a), leisured, light, loose, otiose, out of work, slothful, slug, stagnate, unengaged, unfounded, unprofitable, unsupported, unused, unwarranted, work-shy
Antonyms: busy, run, work
See Also: arse about, arse around, bum about, bum around, daydream, frig around, fuck off, ineffective, ineffectual, lie about, lie around, loaf, loll, loll around, lounge about, lounge around, moon, moon around, moon on, ride the bench, uneffective, unemployed, warm the bench, waste one's time
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