Meaning

4 senses

  1. The state of idling, of being idle.

    the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling

  2. The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.

    a lumpy idle

    A slight valve tap was audible at idle but was not noticeable otherwise.

  3. An idle animation.

  4. An idle game.

Examples

116 sentences

  1. I don't engage in idle speculation.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. An idle brain is the devil's workshop.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Tom is not an idle boy any longer.

    ruТом больше не лентяй. — sharptoothed

    deTom ist nicht länger ein untätiger Junge. — Espi

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  4. I regret having been idle in my youth.

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  5. The machines are idle now.

    deDie Maschinen stehen jetzt still. — Espi

    CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Origin

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel (“idleness”), from the adjective (se

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English īdel (“idleness”), from the adjective (see above).

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

plural: idles
Singularidle
Pluralidles

regular

Synonyms

4 synonyms
full throttlewide openidle gameincremental game

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
idiosyncraticC2idioticidlenessidlyidolB1idolatry

Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.

idle — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto