| 单词 | idle |
| 释义 | idle (aɪdəl ) Word forms: idles , idling , idled 1. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE] If people who were working are idle, they have no jobs or work. Employees have been idle almost a month because of shortages. Synonyms: unoccupied, unemployed, redundant, jobless 2. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE] If machines or factories are idle, they are not working or being used. Now the machine is lying idle. ...factories that had been idle for years. Synonyms: unused, stationary, inactive, out of order 3. adjective If you say that someone is idle, you disapprove of them because they are not doing anything and you think they should be. [disapproval] ...idle bureaucrats who spent the day reading newspapers. I never met such an idle bunch of workers in all my life! Synonyms: lazy, slow, slack, sluggish idleness uncountable noun Idleness is a very bad thing for human nature. Synonyms: loafing, inertia, sloth, pottering Synonyms: inactivity, unemployment, leisure, inaction idly adverb [ADVERB with verb] We were not idly sitting around. 4. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] Idle is used to describe something that you do for no particular reason, often because you have nothing better to do. Brian kept up the idle chatter for another five minutes. ...idle curiosity. Synonyms: trivial, superficial, insignificant, frivolous idly adverb [ADVERB with verb, ADVERB adjective] We talked idly about magazines and baseball. 'Has there been an accident?' Gary asked, idly curious. Synonyms: lazily, casually, passively, languidly 5. adjective [it v-link ADJ to-inf] If you say that it is idle to do something, you mean that it is not worth doing it, because it will not achieve anything. It would be idle to pretend the system is perfect. Synonyms: useless, vain, pointless, hopeless 6. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun] You refer to an idle threat or boast when you do not think the person making it will or can do what they say. It was more of an idle threat than anything. His statement isn't merely an idle boast. Synonyms: empty, useless, hollow, vain 7. verb If you idle, you spend time in a lazy way, doing nothing in particular. When they reached his house, Scobie idled a bit, finishing his cigarette. [VERB] We spent many hours idling in one of the cafes that line three sides of the tiny piazza. [VERB] He idled around afterwards, window shopping until about 5pm. [VERB adverb/preposition] Synonyms: do nothing, slack, hang out [informal], languish 8. verb B2 To idle a factory or other place of work means to close it down because there is no work to do or because the workers are on strike. [US, business] ...idled assembly plants. [VERB-ed] 9. verb To idle workers means to stop them working. [US, business] The strike has idled about 55,000 machinists. [VERB noun] 10. verb If an engine or vehicle is idling, the engine is running slowly and quietly because it is not in gear, and the vehicle is not moving. Beyond a stand of trees a small plane idled. [VERB] Her Daimler limo waits with its engine idling. [VERB] Synonyms: tick over, be in neutral Phrasal verbs: idle away phrasal verb If you idle away a period of time, you spend it doing very little. The butterfly park is a nice place to idle away an hour. [VERB PARTICLE noun (not pronoun)] He idled the time away in dreamy thought. [VERB noun PARTICLE] Quotations: As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted oceanThe Ancient Mariner It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to doIdle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to doDivine Songs for Children We would all be idle if we could It is better to have loafed and lost than never to have loafed at allFables For Our Time Collocations: idle moment But they shouldn't be used as a crutch for every idle moment. The Sun He thought it essential for youngsters to develop tenacity 'so there's never an idle moment'. Times, Sunday Times Like many people, in an idle moment, his thoughts turn to the prospect of buying a house surrounded by land. Times, Sunday Times It's a useful pudding because it can be prepared and cooked in an idle moment, cooled and kept, covered, in the fridge for a few days without spoiling. Times, Sunday Times But it was just an idle moment not addressed to anyone. Times, Sunday Times Idle speculation has led to great advances in human knowledge. Times, Sunday Times There has been much idle speculation about who will be his successor. Times, Sunday Times All idle speculation, of course. Times, Sunday Times By studying how people's actions have been shaped by the standards, mores, idle speculation and fashionable nonsense of their times, we can gain a better understanding of ourselves. Times, Sunday Times That's not just idle speculation. The Sun By asking how idle talk changes as it gets picked up and retold, the vignette takes the act of storytelling as its subject. The Times Literary Supplement He will not waste time with idle talk or useless listening. Christianity Today Not one for idle talk, he dropped half of them. Times, Sunday Times No matter what or where it was, he was there, a rather solitary presence with little inclination for idle talk, but with occasional gestures of kindliness. Times, Sunday Times It may be that their bragging about the influence they would have been able to wield would have turned out to be no more than idle talk. Times, Sunday Times His players must now ensure it is a promise and not just an idle threat. Times, Sunday Times (2017) It was no idle threat. Times, Sunday Times (2016) Another sanction might seem an idle threat but is not. Times, Sunday Times (2011) This is not an idle threat. Times, Sunday Times (2013) Sensing it was no idle threat, Marlette levelled a finger of warning at her. THE DEVIL'S DOOR (2001) Translations: Chinese: 懒惰的 Japanese: 何もしない |
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