idling

Variant of idle

adjective idler, idlest

    1. having no value, use, or significance; worthless; useless: idle talk
    2. vain; futile; pointless: an idle wish
  1. baseless; unfounded: idle rumors
    1. unemployed; not busy
    2. inactive; not in use: idle machines
    3. not filled with activity: idle hours
  2. not inclined to work; lazy
  3. 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

  1. to move slowly or aimlessly; loaf
  2. to spend time unprofitably; be unemployed or inactive
  3. 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

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

noun

the state or act of idling: an engine at idle

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Learn more about idling

link/cite print suggestion box