Definition of "idle"

idle¹

/ˈaɪd(ə)l/

adjective
comparative more idle, superlative most idle
1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
  Quotations
  The majority of accounts require no minimum balance and charge no monthly service fee. Where monthly fees and balance requirements exist, they're low. You earn no interest on the idle money in the account.
  2009, Jane Bryant Quinn, Making the Most of Your Money Now
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
  Quotations
  Molly the dairymaid came a little way from the rickyard, and said she would pluck the pigeon that very night after work. She was always ready to do anything for us boys; and we could never quite make out why they scolded her so for an idle hussy indoors. It seemed so unjust. Looking back, I recollect she had very beautiful brown eyes.
  1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […]
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
  Quotations
  “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”
  1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VI, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company
5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.
  Quotations
  The youth is idle
  1628, John Ford, The Lover's Melancholy

idle²

/ˈaɪd(ə)l/

verb
third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled
1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
  Quotations
  He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]
  1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand, page 32
3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.
  Quotations
  High levels of all pollutants were found during time idling in stations.
  2021 October 6, Paul Clifton, “Network News: RSSB research exposes poor air quality on diesel trains”, in RAIL, number 941, page 14
4. (transitive) To cause (an engine) to idle(3)

idle³

/ˈaɪd(ə)l/

noun
plural idles
1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (mechanical engineering) The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.
3. (gaming) An idle animation.
4. (gaming) An idle game.

Definition of "idle"

idle1

adjective

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idle2

verb

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idle3

noun

idle¹

idle²

idle³