<p><strong>Adjective:</strong></p><ul><li>not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.</li><li>not spent or filled with activity: idle hours.</li><li>not in use or operation; not kept busy: idle machinery.</li><li>habitually doing nothing or avoiding work; lazy.</li><li>of no real worth, importance, or significance: idle talk.</li><li>having no basis or reason; baseless; groundless: idle fears.</li><li>frivolous; vain: idle pleasures.</li><li>meaningless; senseless: idle threats.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used without object):</strong></p><ul><li>to pass time doing nothing.</li><li>to move, loiter, or saunter aimlessly: to idle along the avenue.</li><li>(of a machine, engine, or mechanism) to operate at a low speed, disengaged from the load.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object):</strong></p><ul><li>to pass (time) doing nothing (often followed by away): to idle away the afternoon.</li><li>to cause (a person) to be idle: The strike idled many workers.</li><li>to cause (a machine, engine, or mechanism) to idle: I waited in the car while idling the engine.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>the state or quality of being idle.</li><li>the state of a machine, engine, or mechanism that is idling: a cold engine that stalls at idle.</li></ul>