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Not operating or being used
“The old printer has been idle for months.”
Not functional or operational
“The machines are sitting idle with the ground so wet they cannot work.”
Doing nothing in particular
“They be worse than idle men indeed, for that they seek to have wages for their loitering.”
Not easily motivated to action or work
“They always claim to work hard, but in truth, they're nothing but lazy idle sluggards!”
Not engaged in any occupation or employment
“My son is idle at the moment, looking for work if you have any.”
(of time) Characterized by inaction or absence of significant activity
“During idle moments, he'll sit straight-backed on a boulder and write in his field book.”
Frivolous or trivial in nature
“Their culture consists of spending much of their time engaged in idle gossip.”
Ineffective or useless
“Stuyvesant may have recalled this phrase, which at the time probably seemed nothing but an idle threat.”
Having no basis in truth or reality
Spent in a bad way, squandered
Existing in a latent or dormant state
No longer in use
Having or showing no emotion or expression
Relating to or living the life of a vagrant or person of no fixed abode
Forgetful or careless due to distraction
Not awake and aware of and responding to one's environment
Of land, ploughed but left unseeded
Such as one may avail oneself of for meetings with other individuals
To laze around, mostly doing nothing
“We want to enjoy the Caribbean island life and idle by the beach.”
To pass or spend (time) in idleness
“Many mothers called their sons home to either work on the land or merely idle their time away.”
To move aimlessly or lazily
“He wanted to idle along the embankments and see the flowers growing in the coarse grass.”
To cause (an engine) to idle
“She let the big black truck idle for a moment before turning it off.”
To relax and take it easy
To move or progress slowly, failing to keep up with others
To stop operating
To waste time, money, or energy on trifling matters
To cause to be ineffective or deactivated
Temporarily not engaged in work or official responsibilities
Related Words and Phrases
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