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APG.American
Pronunciation Guide
HOW TO PRONOUNCE

idle

/ˈaɪdəl/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 1:05
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What does idle mean?

adjective

  1. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
  2. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
  3. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.
More meanings (18)

adjective

  1. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.
  2. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
  3. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

verb

  1. To spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume.
  2. To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.
  3. Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.
  4. To cause (an engine) to idle (run at a slow speed, or out of gear).
  5. To make (workers, students, etc) idle; to leave without work.

noun

  1. The state of idling, of being idle.
  2. The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.
  3. An idle animation.
  4. An idle game.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A suburb in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE1737).
  3. A river, the River Idle in Nottinghamshire, England, which flows into the River Trent.
  4. Initialism of Integrated DeveLopment Environment.
  5. Initialism of Integrated Development and Learning Environment.
  6. Acronym of indolent lesion of epithelial origin.
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Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈaɪdəl/

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

He had had a nice, good, idle time all the while—plenty of company—and the fence had three coats of whitewash on it!
Mark TwainThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer, CompleteProject Gutenberg ebook #74
"Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do," and he must have his hands full on board an emigrant ship.
William BoothIn Darkest England, and the Way OutProject Gutenberg ebook #475
More book examples (3)
At one time he would work with all his might, and then again become as idle and fitful as the summer breeze.
Amy SteedmanKnights of Art: Stories of the Italian PaintersProject Gutenberg ebook #529
They were now enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being dressed in very gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle.
Charles DarwinThe Voyage of the BeagleProject Gutenberg ebook #944
The idle men who had camped by the railroads had drunk their water from, and cooked their mulligan stews in, tomato cans.
James J. (James John) DavisThe Iron Puddler: My Life in the Rolling Mills and What Came of ItProject Gutenberg ebook #1297