i·dle (īd'l)
adj., i·dler, i·dlest.

1. 1. Not employed or busy: idle carpenters. See synonyms at inactive.
   2. Avoiding work or employment; lazy: shiftless, idle youth. See synonyms at lazy.
   3. Not in use or operation: idle hands.
2. Lacking substance, value, or basis. See synonyms at baseless, vain.

v., i·dled, i·dling, i·dles.

v.intr.

1. To pass time without working or while avoiding work.
2. To move lazily and without purpose.
3. To run at a slow speed or out of gear. Used of a motor vehicle.

v.tr.

1. To pass (time) without working or while avoiding work; waste: idle the afternoon away.
2. To make or cause to be unemployed or inactive.
3. To cause (a motor, for example) to idle.

n.

1. A state of idling. Used of a motor vehicle: an engine running quietly at idle.
2. A mechanism for regulating the speed at which an engine runs at rest: set the idle higher to keep the motor from stalling.

[Middle English idel, from Old English īdel.]

idleness i'dle·ness n.
idler i'dler (īd'lər) n.
idly i'dly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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