idle
/ˈaɪd(ə)l/ verb C2- To spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume.
- To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business. · to idle in an IRC channel
- Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.
- To cause (an engine) to idle (run at a slow speed, or out of gear). · The driver idled his engine until the car finally stalled.
- To make (workers, students, etc) idle; to leave without work.
He/she/it idles · Past idled · Past participle idled · -ing form idling
Verb forms
- Base form
- idle
- He/she/it
- idles
- Past
- idled
- Past participle
- idled
- -ing form
- idling
From the library
“Sir,” replied he, “if you came to me with the idea of demanding satisfaction, you should have gone at once to the point, and not have entertained me with the idle conversation to which I have been patiently listening for the last half hour.
Why could I not have been contented to labor with my companions, and not wish to be idle all the day like that useless little Lapdog!”
Do you see that idle lad riding while his old father has to walk?
He took the Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon which the new animal left all the others and at once joined the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all.
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