Result from Foreign Dictionaries (6 entries found)

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Idle \I"dle\, a. [Compar. {Idler}; superl. {Idlest}.] [OE. idel, AS. [imac]del vain, empty, useless; akin to OS. [imac]dal, D. ijdel, OHG. [imac]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. [1913 Webster] Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. --Matt. xii. 36. [1913 Webster] Down their idle weapons dropped. --Milton. [1913 Webster] This idle story became important. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster] 2. Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours. [1913 Webster] The idle spear and shield were high uphing. --Milton. [1913 Webster] 3. Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen. [1913 Webster] Why stand ye here all the day idle? --Matt. xx. 6. [1913 Webster] 4. Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow. [1913 Webster] 5. Light-headed; foolish. [Obs.] --Ford. [1913 Webster] {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. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Idle \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. [1913 Webster] From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]: Idle \I"dle\, v. t. To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed by away; as, to idle away an hour a day. [1913 Webster] From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: idle adj 1: not in action or at work; "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind" [ant: {busy}] 2: without a basis in reason or fact; "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy" [syn: {baseless}, {groundless}, {idle}, {unfounded}, {unwarranted}, {wild}] 3: not in active use; "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands" [syn: {idle}, {unused}] 4: silly or trivial; "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter" [syn: {idle}, {light}] 5: lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue" [syn: {idle}, {loose}] 6: not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds" [syn: {dead}, {idle}] 7: not having a job; "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work" [syn: {idle}, {jobless}, {out of work}] n 1: the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling; "the car engine was running at idle" v 1: run disconnected or idle; "the engine is idling" [syn: {idle}, {tick over}] [ant: {run}] 2: be idle; exist in a changeless situation; "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning" [syn: {idle}, {laze}, {slug}, {stagnate}] [ant: {work}] From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]: IDLE Integrated DeveLopment Environment (Python) From V.E.R.A. -- Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (June 2013) [vera]: IDLE International Date Line, East [+1200] (TZ)