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Webster 1913 Edition

Idle

I′dle

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Idler
;
sup
erl.
Idlest
.]
[OE.
idel
, AS.
īdel
vain, empty, useless; akin to OS.
īdal
, D.
ijdel
, OHG.
ītal
vain, empty, mere, G.
eitel
, Dan. & Sw.
idel
mere, pure, and prob. to Gr. [GREEK] clear, pure, [GREEK] to burn. Cf.
Ether
.]
1.
Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren.
“Deserts idle.”
Shak.
Every
idle
word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Matt. xii. 36.
Down their
idle
weapons dropped.
Milton.
This
idle
story became important.
Macaulay.
2.
Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed;
as,
idle
hours
.
The
idle
spear and shield were high uphing.
Milton.
3.
Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing;
as,
idle
workmen
.
Why stand ye here all the day
idle
?
Matt. xx. 6.
4.
Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful;
as, an
idle
fellow
.
5.
Light-headed; foolish.
[Obs.]
Ford.
Syn. – Unoccupied; unemployed; vacant; inactive; indolent; sluggish; slothful; useless; ineffectual; futile; frivolous; vain; trifling; unprofitable; unimportant.
–
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.

I′dle

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Idled
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Idling
.]
To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business.
Shak.

I′dle

,
Verb.
T.
To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; – often followed by away;
as, to
idle
away an hour a day
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Idle

I'DLE

, a.
1.
Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing.
Why stand ye here all the day idle? Matt.20.
To be idle, is to be vicious.
2.
Slothful; given to rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; as an idle man; an idle fellow.
3.
Affording leisure; vacant; not occupied; as idle time; idle hours.
4.
Remaining unused; unemployed; applied to things; as, my sword or spear is idle.
5.
Useless; vain; ineffectual; as idle rage.
6.
Unfruitful; barren; not productive of good.
Of antres vast and idle desarts.
Idle weeds.
7.
Trifling; vain; of no importance; as an idle story; an idle reason; idle arguments.
8.
Unprofitable; not tending to edification.
Every idle word that men shall speak,they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt.12.
Idle differs from lazy; the latter implying constitutional or habitual aversion or indisposition to labor or action, sluggishness; whereas idle, in its proper sense, denotes merely unemployed. An industrious man may be idle, but he cannot be lazy.

I'DLE

,
Verb.
I.
To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business.
To idle away, in a transitive sense, to spend in idleness; as, to idle away time.

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