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idle

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The definition of idle is doing nothing or not filled with activities or actions.

(adjective)

An example of idle is being unemployed and doing nothing all day.
An example of idle is hours spent sitting in a waiting room doing nothing.

Idle is defined as to spend time doing nothing or to operate a car engine while the car is not moving.

(verb)

An example of idle is to stand in front of a store with a group of friends just hanging out.
An example of idle is for an engine to run while the car sits at the curb.

See idle in Webster's New World College Dictionary

adjective idler, idlest

1. having no value, use, or significance; worthless; useless: idle talk
2. vain; futile; pointless: an idle wish
baseless; unfounded: idle rumors
1. unemployed; not busy
2. inactive; not in use: idle machines
3. not filled with activity: idle hours
not inclined to work; lazy
designating certain parts of a fuel system that set an engine's idling speed

Origin: ME idel < OE, empty, akin to Ger eitel, vain, empty < ? IE base *ai-dh, to burn, shine: basic sense, either “only apparent, seeming” or “burned out”

intransitive verb idled, idling

to move slowly or aimlessly; loaf
to spend time unprofitably; be unemployed or inactive
to operate without transmitting power; esp., to operate a motor vehicle's engine while the vehicle is not moving

Origin: < idlethe : parallel with OE idlian, to come to nothing, be useless

transitive verb

to waste; squander: usually with away: to idle away one's youth
to cause (a motor, etc.) to idle
to cause to be inactive or unemployed

noun

the state or act of idling: an engine at idle

Related Forms:

idleness noun
idly adverb

See idle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

adjective i·dler, i·dlest

a. Not employed or busy: idle carpenters. See Synonyms at inactive.
b. Avoiding work or employment; lazy: shiftless, idle youth. See Synonyms at lazy.
c. Not in use or operation: idle hands.
Lacking substance, value, or basis. See Synonyms at baseless, vain.

verb i·dled, i·dling, i·dles

verb, intransitive

To pass time without working or while avoiding work.
To move lazily and without purpose.
To run at a slow speed or out of gear. Used of a motor vehicle.

verb, transitive

To pass (time) without working or while avoiding work; waste: idle the afternoon away.
To make or cause to be unemployed or inactive.
To cause (a motor, for example) to idle.

noun

A state of idling. Used of a motor vehicle: an engine running quietly at idle.
A mechanism for regulating the speed at which an engine runs at rest: set the idle higher to keep the motor from stalling.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English idel

Origin: , from Old English īdel

Related Forms: