idle

adjective

/ˈaɪdl/

Idioms

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(disapproving) (of people) not working hard synonym lazy
- an idle student
see also bone idle
Homophones idle | idol
idle idol
/ˈaɪdl/

/ˈaɪdl/
- idle adjective
  They haven't been idle since their first success—they still work hard.
- idol noun
  His bedroom is plastered with pictures of his screen idol Grace Kelly.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
verbs
- be
- become
- remain
- …
adverb
- bone
See full entry
(of machines, factories, etc.) not in use
- to lie/stand/remain idle
Extra Examples
- Half their machines are lying idle.
- He did not let the factory become idle.
- The pumps are standing idle.
- The land was left idle for years.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
verbs
- be
- lie
- sit
- …
See full entry
(of people) without work synonym unemployed
- Over ten per cent of the workforce is now idle.
- He never stayed idle for long.
[usually before noun] with no particular purpose or effect
- idle chatter/curiosity
- It was just an idle threat (= not serious).
- It is idle to pretend that their marriage is a success.
[usually before noun] (of time) not spent doing work or something particular
- In idle moments, he carved wooden figures.

Word OriginOld English īdel ‘empty, useless’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch ijdel ‘vain, frivolous, useless’ and German eitel ‘bare, worthless’.

Idioms

the devil makes work for idle hands

(saying) people who do not have enough to do often start to do wrong
- She blamed the crimes on the local jobless teenagers. ‘The devil makes work for idle hands,’ she would say.

idle

verb

/ˈaɪdl/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they idle	/ˈaɪdl/ /ˈaɪdl/
he / she / it idles	/ˈaɪdlz/ /ˈaɪdlz/
past simple idled	/ˈaɪdld/ /ˈaɪdld/
past participle idled	/ˈaɪdld/ /ˈaɪdld/
-ing form idling	/ˈaɪdlɪŋ/ /ˈaɪdlɪŋ/

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[transitive, intransitive] to spend time doing nothing important
- idle something (+ adv./prep.) They idled the days away, talking and watching television.
- (+ adv./prep.) They idled along by the river (= walked slowly and with no particular purpose).
[intransitive] (of an engine) to run slowly while the vehicle is not moving synonym tick over
- She left the car idling at the roadside.
Topics Transport by car or lorryc2
[transitive] idle somebody/something (North American English) to close a factory, etc. or stop providing work for the workers, especially temporarily
- The strikes have idled nearly 4 000 workers.

Word OriginOld English īdel ‘empty, useless’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch ijdel ‘vain, frivolous, useless’ and German eitel ‘bare, worthless’.