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Meaning of IDLE

Pronunciation:  'Idl

WordNet Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. [adj]  not having a job; "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"
  2. [adj]  not in active use; "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"
  3. [adj]  not in action or at work; "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"
  4. [adj]  not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
  5. [adj]  lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"
  6. [adj]  silly or trivial; "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"
  7. [adj]  without a basis in reason or fact; "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"
  8. [v]  run disconnected or idle; "the engine is idling"
  9. [v]  be idle; exist in a changeless situation; "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"
 
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 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

 

 

Webster's 1913 Dictionary
 
 Definition: 
  1. \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.

  2. \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.

  3. \I"dle\, v. t.
To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed
by away; as, to idle away an hour a day.
 
Dream Dictionary
 
 Definition: Dreaming that you are idling, represents boredom and your lack of initiative to take action in what you really want to do. Seeing idling people in your dream means your tendency to not use your time and energy wisely in achieving your goals.
 
Thesaurus Terms
 
 Related Terms: abortive, absurd, airy, amble, ambling, asinine, asleep, at a standstill, at anchor, at leisure, at liberty, at loose ends, available, baseless, be a sideliner, be still, bootless, brogue, bum, bum around, catchpenny, cautious, circumspect, claudicant, claudicate, coast, contemplative, coquet, crawl, crawling, creep, creeping, creeping like snail, dabble, dally, dally away, dead-still, delay, deliberate, diddle, diddle away, disengaged, do nothing, dog it, dogtrot, do-nothing, dormant, drag, drag along, drag out, dribble away, drift, drivel away, drone, easy, empty, faineant, fallow, faltering, fatuitous, fatuous, fiddle, fiddle with, fiddle-faddle, fidget with, finger with, fixed, flagging, flimsy, flirt, fool, fool around, fool away, fool with, foolish, foot-dragging, free, fribble, fribbling, fritter away, frivol, frivolous, frothy, fruitless, fust, futile, gentle, go dead slow, go slow, goldbrick, goof off, gradual, groundless, halting, hang around, hang fire, hibernate, hobble, hobbled, hobbling, hollow, horse around, idle away, ill-founded, immobile, immotive, inactive, inane, inch, inch along, indolent, inert, insignificant, jerk off, jobless, jog-trot, kid around, kill, kill time, lackadaisical, laissez-aller, laissez-faire, lallygag, languid, languorous, laze, lazy, leisure, leisured, leisurely, lethargic, lie around, lie dormant, light, limp, limping, linger, listless, loaf, loafing, loiter, loiter about, loitering, loll, loll around, lollop around, lollygag, lounge, lounge around, lumbering, lumpen, mark time, meaningless, meditative, mess around, moderate, monkey, monkey around, mooch, mooch around, moon, moon around, mosey, motionless, moveless, muddle away, neuter, neutral, not budge, not stir, nugacious, nugatory, off, off duty, off work, open, otiose, out of commission, out of employ, out of harness, out of work, paralytic, paralyzed, passive, piddle, piss away, play, play around, play with, pointless, poke, poke along, poking, poky, potter, potter away, procrastinating, putter, quiescent, quiet, quietist, quietistic, redundant, relax, relaxed, reluctant, repose, rest, resting, retired, riding at anchor, saunter, sauntering, semiretired, senseless, shallow, shiftless, shuffle along, shuffling, silly, sit around, sit back, sit it out, slack, sleep, sleepy, slender, slight, slothful, slouch, slouch around, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, slumber, smatter, smolder, snaillike, snail-paced, spare, stagger along, staggering, stagnant, stagnate, stagnating, stand around, standpat, static, stationary, statuelike, still, stock-still, stroll, strolling, superficial, take it easy, tarry, tentative, tinker, toddle, toddle along, toddling, tortoiselike, totter along, tottering, toy, toy with, traipse, trifle, trifle away, trifling, trite, trivial, trudging, turtlelike, twiddle, unavailing, unbased, unemployable, unemployed, unfounded, unfruitful, ungrounded, unhurried, unimportant, unmoved, unmoving, unoccupied, unproductive, unsupportable, unsupported, unsustainable, unsustained, untenable, unused, unwarranted, useless, vacuous, vain, vapid, vegetable, vegetate, vegetative, waddle, waddling, wait and see, walk, waste, watch and wait, while away, windy, without basis, without foundation, workless, worm, worm along, worthless
 

 

 

 

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