idle
part of speech
adjective (idle, idler, idlest); verb (idle, idles, idled, idling)
meaning for a pupil
1) Not working or not being used, as in «the machines stood idle». tree →
2) Lazy, not wanting to work. tree →
3) Without a real reason or purpose, as in «idle chatter» or «an idle threat». tree →
4) (verb) Of an engine: to run slowly while the car is not moving. tree →
5) (verb) To spend time doing nothing. tree →
sense in the lessons
In safety and science: an idling car makes fumes, so many schools have «no idling» signs. In stories: «idle hands», «idle gossip». In computing a computer can be idle. Phrases: stand idle, idle chatter, idle threat, idle away the time.
examples
- Please don't let the engine idle outside the school. tree →
- The tractor sat idle in the shed. tree →
- Don't be idle — help me tidy up. tree →
- It was just idle chatter. tree →
- We idled away the afternoon in the garden. tree →
- His threat was an idle one. tree →
- The computer goes to sleep when it is idle. tree →
- As long as our father lived Alnaschar was very idle. tree →
note
Homophone: «idol» (someone you admire, or a statue worshipped). Adverb: idly. Noun: idleness. In maths, time a machine is idle produces nothing, so it does not add to the total made.
In the corpora
- Come and bear a hand, Rat, and don't stand about idle!» (bear a hand = help).
- The Camel came by "chewing milkweed most 'scruciating idle" and laughed at them.
- He also learned how habits change: slowly, with fewer silly friends and more to do than to be idle.
- Habits change slowly: fewer friends who lead you into trouble and more things to do than to be idle.
- Idle time with friends who egg you on makes trouble more likely; clubs and hobbies help change habits.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «idle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.