Definitions for Idle
ˈaɪd lidle

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:3.0 / 5 votes

1. idleadjective

   the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

   "the car engine was running at idle"

2. idleadjective

   not in action or at work

   "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"

3. baseless, groundless, idle, unfounded, unwarranted, wildadjective

   without a basis in reason or fact

   "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"

4. idle, unusedadjective

   not in active use

   "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"

5. idle, lightadjective

   silly or trivial

   "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"

6. idle, looseadjective

   lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility

   "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"

7. dead, idleadjective

   not yielding a return

   "dead capital"; "idle funds"

8. idle, jobless, out of workverb

   not having a job

   "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"

9. idle, tick oververb

   run disconnected or idle

   "the engine is idling"

10. idle, laze, slug, stagnateverb

    be idle; exist in a changeless situation

    "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"

WiktionaryRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. idleverb

   To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.

2. idleverb

   To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

3. idleverb

   Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick-over.

4. idleadjective

   Empty, vacant.

5. idleadjective

   Not turned to appropriate use; not occupied.

6. idleadjective

   Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing.

   idle workmen

7. idleadjective

   Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   an idle fellow

8. idleadjective

   Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

   an idle story; idle talk; idle rumor

9. Etymology: idel, from West *. Cognate with Dutch ijdel, German eitel.

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. IDLEadjective

   Etymology: yðel, Saxon.

   1. Lazy; averse from labour.

   For shame, so much to do, and yet idle. George Bull.

   2. Not busy; at leisure.

   For often have you writ to her; and she in modesty,
   Or else for want of idle time, could not again reply. William Shakespeare.

   3. Unactive; not employed.

   No war or battle's sound
   Was heard the world around,
   The idle spear and shield were high up hung. John Milton.

   Children generally hate to be idle; all the care then is, that their busy humour should be constantly employed in something of use to them. John Locke.

   Supposing, among a multitude embarked in the same vessel, there are several that, in the fury of a tempest, will rather perish than work for their preservation; would it not be madness in the rest to stand idle, and rather chuse to sink than do more than comes to their share? Addison.

   4. Useless; vain; ineffectual.

   They astonish'd, all resistance lost,
   All courage; down their idle weapons dropp'd. John Milton.

   And threatning France, plac'd like a painted Jove,
   Held idle thunder in his lifted hand. Dryden.

   Where was then
   The power that guards the sacred lives of kings?
   Why slept the lightning and the thunderbolts,
   Or bent their idle rage on fields and trees,
   When vengeance call'd 'em here? John Dryden, Spanish Fryar.

   5. Worthless; barren; not productive of good.

   Suffice it then, thou money god, quoth he,
   That all thine idle offers I refuse;
   All that I need I have: what needeth me
   To covet more than I have cause to use? Fairy Queen.

   Of antres vast, and desarts idle,
   It was my hent to speak. William Shakespeare, Othello.

   The murmuring surge,
   That on th' unnumber'd idle pebbles chases,
   Cannot be heard so high. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   He was met even now,
   Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds,
   Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
   In our sustaining corn. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

   6. Trifling; of no importance: as, an idle story.

   This answer is both idle in regard of us, and also repugnant to themselves. Richard Hooker.

   They are not, in our estimation, idle reproofs, when the authors of needless innovations are opposed with such negatives, as that of Leo: how are these new devices brought in, which our fathers never knew? Richard Hooker, b. ii.

   His friend smil'd scornful, and, with proud contempt,
   Rejects as idle what his fellow dreamt. Dryden.

   An idle reason lessens the weight of the good ones you gave before. Jonathan Swift.

   How ill he wishes to recall the precious hours he has spent in trifles, and loitered away in idle unprofitable diversions. John Rogers, Sermons.

2. To Idleverb

   To lose time in laziness and inactivity.

   Etymology: from the adjective.

   Yet free from this poetick madness,
   Next page he says, in sober sadness,
   That she and all her fellow-gods
   Sit idling in their high abodes. Matthew Prior.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. IDLE

   IDLE (short for Integrated Development and Learning Environment) is an integrated development environment for Python, which has been bundled with the default implementation of the language since 1.5.2b1. It is packaged as an optional part of the Python packaging with many Linux distributions. It is completely written in Python and the Tkinter GUI toolkit (wrapper functions for Tcl/Tk). IDLE is intended to be a simple IDE and suitable for beginners, especially in an educational environment. To that end, it is cross-platform, and avoids feature clutter.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. IDLE

   IDLE stands for Integrated Development and Learning Environment. It is a software application that provides a user-friendly interface and features for developers to write, run and debug code easily. IDLE is commonly used for Python programming language and includes features such as syntax highlighting, code completion, and a Python shell for interactive programming.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Idle

   of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren

2. Idle

   not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours

3. Idle

   not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen

4. Idle

   given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow

5. Idle

   light-headed; foolish

6. Idleverb

   to lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business

7. Idleverb

   to spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed by away; as, to idle away an hour a day

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Idle

   Idle is a term which generally refers to a lack of motion and/or energy.

Chambers 20th Century DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Idle

   ī′dl, adj. vain: trifling: unemployed: averse to labour: not occupied: useless: unimportant: unedifying.—v.t. to spend in idleness.—v.i. to be idle or unoccupied.—adj. I′dle-head′ed, foolish.—ns. I′dlehood, I′dleness; I′dler; Id′lesse, idleness; I′dle-wheel, a wheel placed between two others simply for transferring the motion from one to the other without changing the direction.—n.pl. I′dle-worms, once jocularly supposed to be bred in the fingers of lazy maid-servants.—adv. I′dly. [A.S. idel; Dut. ijdel, Ger. eitel.]

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon WurdzRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. IDLE

   Useless. IDOLIZE To make useless.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. idle

   Song lyrics by idle -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by idle on the Lyrics.com website.

2. IDLE

   What does IDLE stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the IDLE acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. IDLE

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Idle is ranked #47006 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Idle surname appeared 452 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Idle.
   
   85.6% or 387 total occurrences were White.
   8.4% or 38 total occurrences were Black.
   3.9% or 18 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   1.5% or 7 total occurrences were of two or more races.

Anagrams for Idle »

1. lied

2. deli

3. diel

4. lide

How to pronounce Idle?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Idle in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Idle in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Idle in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of Idle in a Sentence

1. Herbjorn Hansson:

   We see a clear increase in demand, especially from the East, and the oil is also carried over longer distances. There are very few idle ships out there now and the market is much tighter.

2. Jorge Luis Borges:

   I cannot walk through the suburbs in the solitude of the night without thinking that the night pleases us because it suppresses idle details, just as our memory does.

3. George Du Maurier:

   Sick I am of idle words, past all reconciling, Words that weary and perplex and pander and conceal, Wake the sounds that cannot lie, for all their sweet beguiling The language one need fathom not, but only hear and feel.

4. H.L. Mencken:

   All zoos actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is informing, stimulating and ennobling.

5. Thomas Fuller, Gnomologia, 1732:

   He that is busy is tempted by but one devil; he that is idle, by a legion.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Idle
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Idle
3. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=Idle
4. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idle
5. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
6. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Idle
7. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Idle
8. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=Idle
9. ^ The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1989/pg1989-images.html#:~:text=Idle
10. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
    https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html