▪ I. idle, a. (n.)
(ˈaɪd(ə)l)
Forms: 1–6 idel, ydel, idil, 4–5 ydul, 4–6 idyl, Sc. ydill, idell, -ul, ydil, 5 idylle, ydyll, 5–6 ydyl, 5–7 ydle, 6 ydell, idoll, 6– idle.
[OE. {iacu}del = OFris. idel, OS. îdal empty, worthless (MDu. idel, ydel, Du. ijdel, ijl), OHG. îtal empty, useless, vain (MHG. îtel, G. eitel bare, mere, pure, worthless, vain; Sw. and Da. idel mere, pure, are from LG.). The orig. sense, was app. ‘empty’, but the ulterior etymology is obscure. The sense-development in Eng., which has produced senses 4–6, has been very different from that in Ger. and Du.]
A. adj.
† 1. Empty, vacant; void (of). Obs.
| Beowulf (Z.) 2888 Lond-rihtes mot..monna æᵹhwylc idel hweorfan. c 825 Vesp. Psalter cvi[i]. 9 Forðon ᵹereorde sawle idle [L. satiavit animam inanem]. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 582 To hwan mæᵹ ðis eorðlice hus ᵹif hit ydel stent? c 1200 Vices & Virtues 23 Wuten we fare to ðessere idele saule and amti. a 1225 Ancr. R. 212 To hwamso is idel of god. 1340 Ayenb. 131 He is uol of zennes, and ydel of alle guode. 1388 Wyclif Gen. i. 2 The erthe was idel [1382 veyn with ynne] and voide [L. inanis et vacua]. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione iii. xxvii. 97, I am idel erþe & voide, til þou illumyne me. |
2. a. Of actions, feelings, thoughts, words, etc.: Void of any real worth, usefulness, or significance; leading to no solid result; hence, ineffective, worthless, of no value, vain, frivolous, trifling. Also said of persons in respect of their actions, etc.
In
OE., and early
ME., frequent in
idle yelp, boasting, vain-glory: see
yelp.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xciii[i]. 11 Dryhten wat ᵹeðohtas monna forðon idle sind. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xii. 36 Eᵹhuelc word idil [L. otiosum] þæt sprecende biðon menn [etc.]. c 1000 ælfric Lev. xxvi. 20 Eall eower ᵹeswinc bið idel. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 129 On unnitte speche, and on iuele dede, and on idel þonc. a 1300 Cursor M. 28338 Idel gammes, chess and tablis. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. vii. 46 (Camb. MS.) Yif yt be for the audience of poeple and for idil rumours. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 258/1 Idyl spekare, vanidicus. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 233 Beda speaketh there of the Northeast mouth of the flood Genlade: which speech of his were idle, if that water had none other mouthe but that one. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 245 He is no idle talker. 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 27 No Gods, I am no idle Votarist. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 47 The Schoolemens idle and absurd distinctions. 1709 Swift Advancem. Relig. Wks. 1755 II. i. 98 It is idle to propose remedies, before we are assured of the disease. 1802 M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 217 He did not..waste his time in idle conjectures. 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xiii. 745 To argue against these opinions would be idle indeed. |
† b. Void of meaning or sense; foolish, silly, incoherent; also (of persons) light-headed, out of one's mind, delirious (
cf. idle-headed).
Obs.| 1548 Hall Chron., Rich. III 55 b, He..beganne a lytle to waxe ydle and weake in his wit and remembraunce. Ibid., Hen. VIII 219 b, She semed to bee in Traunses, and spake and uttered many foolishe and Idle woordes. a 1658 Ford, etc. Witch Edmonton iv. ii, Kath. Why do you talk so? Would you were fast asleep. Frank. No, no; I am not idle. 1658 A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. iii. ii. 223 A patient that sleepeth much, and is idle withal in his sleep. |
c. Without foundation: baseless, groundless.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. xii. 9 When they came where that dead Dragon lay..The sight with ydle feare did them dismay. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 235 The bruite that they should have come for Ireland was idle. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 153 He declared that Barillon must have been imposed upon by idle or malicious reports. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 433 Idle hopes that lure man onward, forced back by as idle fears. |
3. a. Of things: Serving no useful purpose, useless.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. xviii. 129 Ðær ðæt heafod bið unhal, eall ða limu bioð idelu, ðeah hie hal sien. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 106 Ðes wida grund stod..idel and unnyt. c 1566 J. Alday tr. Boaystuau's Theat. World R iv, As touching the eares, they are not idell, they are placed..hie and eminent for to receyve the sounde that naturally is borne hie. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. ii. ii. 180 Vsurping Iuie, Brier, or idle Mosse. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. lix. §1. 81 Out of the hole commeth a small idle or barren chaffie eare like unto that of Darnell. 1692 Ray Dissol. World (1732) 124 Which are no idle or useless Part. 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 371 Caught in the meshy snare, in vain they beat Their idle wings, entangled more and more. 1834 Disraeli Rev. Epick ii. xxii, The idle shells On silent shores that none regard. |
b. (See
quot. 1956.)
| 1956 J. Masters Bugles & Tiger ii. 46 The word ‘idle’ meant anything the staff considered unsoldierly. We were idle; we had idle haircuts, idle rifles, idle bicycles; we did idle salutes, idle jumps. 1959 News Chron. 4 Aug. 1/4 ‘Idle’ is a Brigade [of Guards] adjective that describes everything that is not perfection in execution. A bootlace undone is an idle bootlace. 1963 D. Walder Bags of Swank vi. 65 Ransome looked at the lecturer's hip pocket now revealed as undone. ‘Idle and naked,’ he said loudly to Lilburne. |
4. a. Of persons: Not engaged in work, doing nothing, unemployed. Freq. in
phr. the idle rich.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xx. 6 Hwæt her stondes ᵹe allen dæᵹe idlo? [c 975 Rushw. Gosp. unnytte. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. idele]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 44 Lokeð also ich bid ou þet ᵹe ne beon neuer idel. 1340 Ayenb. 206 Huo þet is ydel he him may naȝt longe hyalde þet he ne ualle in-to zenne. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 759 To devocionne evre and Contemplacionne Was sho gyven and nevre ydel. 1530–1 Act 22 Hen. VIII, c. 12 To arest the sayde vacaboundes and ydell persones. 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 119 b, They were never idle but doyng some thyng in one part or other. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 179 The greater part of his men and horses were idle. 1764 Burn Poor Laws 143 They are idle for want of such work as they are able to do. 1865 Mill Auguste Comte 160 He allows of no idle rich. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 74 He could not bear to be idle even for an hour. 1900 B. Matthews Confident To-Morrow 178 Mr. Dircks wishes to shift the burdens of the worthy poor upon the shoulders of the idle rich. 1926 Encycl. Brit. I. 527/1 We must remember as a rule the ‘idle rich’ do not represent idle riches. 1938 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 June 403/3 The crew, Reds of various shades, mutiny and drive ashore the idle-rich passengers. 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day viii. 171 The idle rich, the boss class, fleeing..from the wrath to come. 1964 M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. xv. 185 There has been a decline of the old ‘idle rich’ upper middle class, living partly on unearned income and passing on wealth and advantages to its children. 1971 Daily Tel. 20 Oct. 10/4 More than 25,000 Coventry workers were idle yesterday as a result of the dispute. |
† b. idle from, not engaged in, free from.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 359 For þei..ben y-dil fro many goode dedes. c 1440 Jacob's Well (E.E.T.S.) 238 Þei were hyȝe in pride, & ydel fro gostly occupacyoun. |
c. Of things,
esp. time: Unoccupied; characterized by inaction or want of occupation.
idle bread = bread of idleness (
idleness 4).
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4020 Þat ydel lif þat þine men abbeþ ylad. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxxi. 27 Idil bred she eet not [L. panem otiosa non comedit]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 235 All my ydell yeres & dayes. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 20 In these my..idelest times. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 117 Breake off betimes; And euery man hence, to his idle bed. 1617 Moryson Itin. ii. 1 In which place..whilest I passed an idle yeere [etc.] 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 48 Persons..that have a great deal of Idle Time lying upon their Hands. 1783 Cowper Epit. Hare 31 Dozing out all his idle noons. 1850 Carlyle Latter-d. Pamph. i. 47 Locking you up in temporary Idle Workhouses. 1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 234 Plough-Monday was an idle day. |
d. idle worms, worms humorously said to breed in the fingers of the idle.
| [Cf. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 65 (Qo. 1597) A little worme, Pickt [later edd. prickt] from the lasie finger of a maide [Quartos 2–5 & Folio 1, man, Folios 2, 3, 4, woman].] 1607 Beaum. & Fl. Woman-Hater iii. i, Keep thy hands in thy muff, and warm the idle Worms in thy fingers' ends. |
5. a. Of things: Inactive, unoccupied, not moving or in operation.
| 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. 75/2 Mans mind is neuer ydle, but occupyed commonly either with good or euil. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 350 All the Elementes and other celestiall bodies..are never ydle, but still occupied. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Improv. (1746) 87 As a standing Water corrupteth in a little Space, so an idle Air, rolled about with no Winds, soon putrefieth. 1720 Watts ‘How doth the little busy bee’ iii, Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) I. 365 Peruvian bark.. is not an idle medicine; for if it do not assist it will be sure to injure. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 85 The power which the courts of law had thus recognised was not suffered to lie idle. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 302 The mine..was idle for the first six months of the year. 1898 Daily News 18 June 3/1 We don't keep the pits idle for the fun of the thing. |
b. Of machinery.
to run idle, to run loose, without doing work or transmitting power.
idle wheel,
idle-wheel,
† (
a) a safety-wheel to come into operation in case of the ordinary wheel breaking down; (
b) an intermediate wheel used for connecting two geared wheels when they cannot be brought sufficiently near to gear directly, or when it is necessary that the ‘follower’ should revolve in the same direction as the ‘leader’, which would not be the case if they geared directly.
idle pulley, the loose pulley of the ‘fast-and-loose pulley’ arrangement.
| 1805 Specif. W. Milton's Patent No. 2890 As near..to each active wheel as a workman may think proper, low, strong idle wheels..are to be placed..ready in case of an active wheel coming off, or breaking, or an axle-tree failing, to catch the falling vehicle. 1842 R. Willis Princ. Mechanism 205 If a wheel A be placed between two other wheels C and B it will not affect the velocity ratio of those wheels..but it does affect the directional relation; for..in consequence of the introduction of the intermediate axis of A, B and C will revolve in the same direction. Such an intermediate wheel is termed an idle wheel. 1873 C. P. B. Shelley Workshop Appliances (1885) 187 The wheel which is always in gear with the pinion is brought also into gear with the backshaft wheel, the second wheel running idle. Ibid. 239 The central pulley is ‘idle’, that is to say it runs loose upon the shaft. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 1171/2 Another description of idle-wheel..is [a wheel] caused to rest upon a belt to tighten it, to perfect its adhesion to the band-wheels over which it runs. 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 124 An idle wheel introduced causes the follower to rotate in the same direction as the driver. |
c. Electr. Of a wire on an armature: having no electromotive force induced in it. Of a component of an alternating current: 90° out of phase with respect to the voltage; wattless, reactive.
| 1884 S. P. Thompson Dynamo-Electr. Machinery iii. 33 Where the coils are working in series, it has been considered advantageous to arrange the commutator to cut out the coil that is in the position of least action, as the circuit is thereby relieved of the resistance of an idle coil. Ibid. vii. 126 The advantage originally claimed for this construction, namely, that it allows less of the total length of wire to remain ‘idle’ on the inner side of the ring, is rather imaginary than real. 1904 R. M. Walmsley Electr. in Service of Man ii. vi. 1069 This current..contributes nothing to the power, and is therefore often referred to as the idle current. 1908 Slingo & Brooker Electr. Engin. (new ed.) ix. 354 The portions connecting the horizontal limbs are always idle, inasmuch as they do not cut, but only slide through, the lines of force. |
d. Of money: out of circulation.
| 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Feb. 124/2 It may be thought that saving cannot exceed investment because idle money automatically becomes the basis of bank credit. 1965 Seldon & Pennance Everyman's Dict. Econ. s.v. Dishoarding. A distinction is made between ‘active’ money in circulation and financing current transactions and ‘inactive’ money held in idle balances. |
6. Addicted to doing no work; lazy, indolent.
† idle bellies, indolent sluggards or gluttons (
cf. Titus i. 12).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 27238 Yong man idel, and ald man dill. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xvi. (1495) 200 He is slowe and ydle and lesyth in ydlenes the tyme that is graunted to traueylle in. 1530 Compend. Treat. (1863) 48 The ydle bellyes wolde have had leyser Inough to put forth a nother well translatyd. 1634 Canne Necess. Separ. (1849) 246 The dumb dogs, caterpillars, and idle bellies, never had a better proctor than this. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 28 They were very idle, and there was no driving them on faster. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xiv, The Prince is unhappily a dissipated and idle youth. |
† 7. In
quasi-adv. use
= idly.
Obs.| c 1300 Cursor M. 28991 (Cott. Galba) If þat ȝerning idell be, for idell prayand tald er we. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 7102 ‘Sir erl’, quaþ Gij, ‘þer-of speke nouȝt, Al idel þou hast me þer-of bisouȝt’. 1663 Pepys Diary 29 Oct., The Queene mends apace, they say; but yet talks idle still. |
8. a. Parasynthetic combs., as
idle-bellied,
idle-brained,
idle-handed,
idle-minded (so
idle-mindedness),
idle-pated,
idle-thoughted,
idle-witted adjs. Also
idle-looking adj.;
idle-headed.
| 1340 Ayenb. 218 Þou ne sselt naȝt sseawy þe beuore me, ydel-honded. 1532 Frith Mirror to know Thyself (1829) 272 Idle-bellied monks, canons, & priests. 1564 Brief Exam. *****iiij, To beleue euery fonde meanyng, as suche ydle brayned Durandes do bryng. a 1613 Overbury Charac., Sexton Wks. (1756) 206 Let him be found never so idle pated, he is still a grave drunkard. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xviii. 285 Is the man idle-brain'd for want of rest? 1652 Gaule Magastrom. 177 Idle-witted and fantastical men. 1849 Hare Par. Serm. II. 187 None of you can be so idle-thoughted as to fancy you can escape. 1870 Freeman in Stephens Life & Lett. (1895) II. 10 Idle-looking, watering-place sort of folk. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 21 Aug. 2/3 The empty-headed and idle-minded exist in both sexes. 1899 Leisure Hour Dec. 153 Hence the dull lives of many children of the poor, their occasional trend towards mischief from sheer idle-mindedness. 1917 Kipling Years Between (1919) 47 But the idle-minded overlings who quibbled while they died. 1927 T. Wilder Bridge San Luis Rey 100 Even the busiest mother stands for a moment idle-handed. 1928 Oxford Poetry 39 Because this place is full of moneyed young men And indolent phallophil idleminded girls. |
b. Special combs.:
idle-back, an indolent person;
† idle-being, being idle, idleness;
idle Dick,
Jack S. Afr., formerly used as a local name for the grass-bird,
Sphenœacus afer;
idle-fellow, formerly, a fellow of a college who had no formal duties; so
idle fellowship;
† idle-pack, an idler;
idle-peg (see
quot.);
idle-tongs,
= lazy-tongs.
| 1828 Craven Dial., *Idle-back, a lazy person. |
| 1562 in Strype Ann. Ref. (1709) I. xxxi. 317 Giving themselves to gaming, drinking, or *idlebeing at Home. |
| 1901 A. C. Stark Birds S. Afr. II. 168 Sphenœacus natalensis. Natal Grass-Bird... ‘*Idle Dick’ and ‘Lazy Dick’ of English Colonists. |
| 1919 R. Frost Let. 8 Aug. (1964) 132, I am going..to Ann Arbor to become an *idle-fellow of the University of Michigan for one year. |
| 1884 in J. R. Ware Passing Eng. (1909) 157/1 Much has been said against what are called *idle Fellowships. 1909 J. R. Ware Ibid. 156/2 Idle fellowships (Oxford and Cambridge), the old as distinct from the new fellowships. Parliamentary action swept away towards the end of the 19th century most of these fatal sinecures. |
| 1884 R. B. Sharpe Layard's Birds S. Afr. (rev. ed.) 281 It..will suffer itself to be taken with the hand rather than rise again; for this reason it has acquired the name of *Idle Jack or Lazy Dick. 1893 A. Newton Dict. Birds 458 Idle Jack, a local name in the Cape Colony for Sphenœacus africanus (Grass-bird). |
| 1624 Bp. R. Montagu Gagg 326 You have playd the *Idle-pack, Addlehead, Ignavo or Negligent in the course of your book. |
| 1747 Hooson Miner's Dict., *Idlepeg, a peg of wood, driven into a hole in the Stoblade, to stop the Sweep from turning and save the winder the trouble of holding it. |
| 1864 M. Eyre Lady's Walks in S. France xiii. (1865) 163 Zigzag roads..which at a distance look like a huge pair of *idle-tongs. |
B. n. (
absol. use of the
adj.)
† 1. a. That which is useless, vain, or frivolous.
Obs. rare.
| c 1000 Canons of Edgar c. 26 in Thorpe Laws II. 250 Ne idele spræce ne idele dæde..ne æfre æniᵹ idel. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 214 ᵹif þu ᵹesihst maneᵹa get [= goats] ydel ᵹetacnað. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 153 Opene to behalden idel and unnet. |
† b. in (earlier on, an) idle: In vain; without result; without cause (
cf. idleness 1).
Obs.| c 1000 ælfric Lev. xxvi. 16 On idel ᵹe swincaþ. c 1000 ― Deut. v. 11 Ne nemne ᵹe drihtnes naman on idel. c 1200 Ormin 12514 Onn idell & wiþþutenn ned & alls he wollde leȝȝkenn. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3071 It nis an ydel noȝt þat ich telle þis tydinge. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxiv. 28 Be thou not a witnesse in idil [1388 with out resonable cause] aȝen thi neȝhebore. c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶522 Euery man that taketh goddes name in ydel, or falsly swereth with his mouth. a 1500 Ragman Roll 80 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 73 Al in ydel here is thy labour. |
† 2. a. Idleness.
Obs.| a 1000 in Kemble Sal. & Sat. (1848) 258 Þe slep & þæt ydel fet unþeawas & unhælo þæs lichoman. a 1225 Ancr. R. 404 Idel acoaldeð & acwencheð þis fur. 1465 Paston Lett. No. 501 II. 183 A day lost in idyll can never be recoveryd. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. ii. 1319 His brains' rich Talent buries not in Idle. |
b. pl. the idles: idleness as an affection or distemper.
colloq.| 1616 Withals' Dict. 558 Hodie nullam lineam duxi, I have beene sicke of the idles to day. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 753 Sick of the Idles. |
c. [
f. idle v.] The act of idling.
| 1883 Fenn Middy & Ensign xxiv. 142 A good idle ashore would be very pleasant. |
† 3. An idle person, idler.
Obs.| 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 146 Industry in any calling makes a man capable of better imployment, whereas Idles are fit for nothing but temptations. 1709 Rambling Fuddle-Caps 13 Had I thought you'd have prov'd such an Idle. |
4. [
f. the
vb.] Idling (of an engine); idling speed.
| 1939 C. H. Fisher Carburation & Carburettors iv. 96 If the throttle is closed completely the adjustment of the idling mixture is rendered too sensitive, hence it is usual to give a very small opening of the throttle when adjusting the idle. 1943 A. P. Fraas Aircraft Power Plants vii. 134 As the throttle is opened farther..the idle needle is withdrawn very rapidly and so has no effect on fuel flow at powers above an idle. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. II. 478/2 Because of increased piston and other friction with a cold engine, greater throttle opening as well as more fuel is required for idle at that time. 1972 Practical Motorist Oct. 160/3 Start the engine and set the tick-over to 650 rpm, using the air screw. Now turn the jet adjusting screw one way or the other until the smoothest idle is achieved. |
5. attrib. (in sense B. 4:
cf. idling vbl. n. 2), as
idle jet,
idle needle,
idle nozzle,
idle power,
idle range,
idle stroke.
| 1943 A. P. Fraas Aircraft Power Plants vii. 119 A high metering head..is used to induce a flow of fuel through an idle jet. 1943 Idle needle [see sense B. 4]. 1968 C. F. Taylor Internal-Combustion Engine II. vi. 200 Further opening of the throttle gradually exposes the idle nozzle to the full manifold depression, which may be as much as 10 psi..below atmospheric pressure in a normal idling engine. |
| 1946 R. H. Thorner Aircraft Carburetion ii. 65 The richest mixture is required at the carburetor during the lowest idle power. |
| 1939 C. H. Fisher Carburation & Carburettors iv. 95 Since most engines idle with a manifold depression of about 16{pp} of mercury,..any good carburettor can be made to deliver a wide band of mixture strengths covering the idle range. |
| 1896 W. Norris ‘Otto’ Cycle Gas Engine ii. 6 The idle strokes of the ‘Otto’ cycle are far from theoretically correct. |
▪ II. idle, v. (
ˈaɪd(ə)l)
[f. prec. adj. (OE. had {iacu}dlian to come to nothing, become vain or useless.)] 1. intr. To move or saunter idly.
rare.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. vi. 19 The Gossamours, That ydles in the wanton Summer ayre. 1882 W. D. Howells in Longm. Mag. I. 41 A clear brown brook..idles through the pastures. 1890 G. Gissing Emancipated II. i. xiv. 127 Cecily let her fingers idle upon the keys. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling ix. 75 The woodbox was low and Jody idled outside to fill it. |
2. a. To be idle; to spend the time in idleness.
| 1668 Pepys Diary 20 July, Thence idling all the after⁓noon. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 95 All the heat of the Day they idle it under some shady Tree. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) III. xxxi. 187 What do I keep fellows idling in the country for? 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xix. (1856) 149 Whether you ate or slept, or idled or toiled. |
b. quasi-trans. to idle (time) away, to pass in idleness.
| 1652 J. Audley England's Commw. 8 Some idle away their time. a 1773 Chesterfield (T.), Will you improve that hour instead of idling it away? 1813 E. S. Barrett Heroine (1815) I. 29 Thus idling her precious time over the common occupations of life. |
3. trans. To cause to be idle.
| 1788 E. Sheridan Jrnl. (1960) 138 And to compleat all, they beg'd him to see another person who idled him two hours more. 1826 Moore Mem. (1854) V. 55 [I] have been a good deal idled these few days past. 1834 Sir W. R. Hamilton in R. P. Graves Life II. 97 My little boy, now about two months old, has not idled me much as yet. 1892 S. A. Brooke Short Serm. 174 Some pursuit which idles you too much. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 Feb. 21/7 Gilchrist was..idled with a leg injury. 1972 Nat. Geographic Sept. 322 (caption) Idled by war, workers await the call to return to the Karnaphuli Rayon and Chemicals plant in Chandraghona. |
4. a. intr. Of an engine: to run while disconnected from a load or out of gear, so that it performs no external or useful work; also, to run very slowly.
| 1916 [implied in idling vbl. n. 1]. 1920 V. W. Pagé Useful Hints Motorists iii. 78 Turn petrol adjustment to the right..until motor idles smoothly. 1925 A. W. Judge Carburettors & Carburation iii. 37 The ideal carburettor should:.. (4) Enable the engine to run very slowly when ‘idling’, without undue waste of fuel. 1932 Chatfield & Taylor Airplane & its Engine (ed. 2) viii. 169 Airplane engines must be able to idle, that is run very slowly, in order to keep the landing speed as low as possible. 1934 Boys' Mag. XLVII. 23/2 One after another the four engines were started, ‘revved’ with a deafening roar singly and all together, and then left quietly ‘idling’. 1953 G. E. M. Anscombe tr. Wittgenstein's Philos. Investigations I. §132 The confusions which occupy us arise when language is like an engine idling, not when it is doing work. 1965 P. H. Smith High-Speed Two-Stroke Petrol Engine x. 212 The engine is..idling at tick-over speed. 1970 Commercial Motor 25 Sept. 64/2 Neither vehicle had much mileage on the clock which was probably the reason why the engines idled badly. |
b. trans. To cause (an engine) to idle;
to idle down, to slow down and idle (an engine).
| 1925 E. W. Knott Carburettor Handbk. i. 41 It is surprising what a small degree of throttle opening is necessary to pass the requisite amount of mixture to ‘idle’ an engine. 1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 17 She heard him drive to the gate and idle down his motor. 1938 Amer. Speech XIII. 131/2 In case of some delay, the engineer may idle down or slow down the tractor. 1972 ‘H. Buckmaster’ Walking Trip 163 David slowed the car and idled it by the side of the road. |
¶ Meaning obscure.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. xxx. 326 With youre bendys and youre bridyls of sathan, the whilke sir sathanas Idyls you for tha ilke. |
Hence
idling ppl. a.| 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, II. v. 119 Not to be idle in idling times. 1936 E. S. Gardner Case of Stuttering Bishop (1937) iii. 41 The ever-present throbbing undertone of sound..from idling motors. 1968 [see idle nozzle s.v. idle n. 5]. |
▪ III. idle obs. form of
isle.