Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to idle
Participle: idled
Gerund: idling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | idle |
| you | idle |
| he;she;it | idles |
| we | idle |
| you | idle |
| they | idle |
Perfect
| I | have idled |
| you | have idled |
| he;she;it | has idled |
| we | have idled |
| you | have idled |
| they | have idled |
Past
| I | idled |
| you | idled |
| he;she;it | idled |
| we | idled |
| you | idled |
| they | idled |
Pluperfect
| I | had idled |
| you | had idled |
| he;she;it | had idled |
| we | had idled |
| you | had idled |
| they | had idled |
Future
| I | will idle |
| you | will idle |
| he;she;it | will idle |
| we | will idle |
| you | will idle |
| they | will idle |
Future Perfect
| I | will have idled |
| you | will have idled |
| he;she;it | will have idled |
| we | will have idled |
| you | will have idled |
| they | will have idled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | idle |
| you | idle |
| he;she;it | idle |
| we | idle |
| you | idle |
| they | idle |
Perfect
| I | have idled |
| you | have idled |
| he;she;it | have idled |
| we | have idled |
| you | have idled |
| they | have idled |
Imperfect
| I | idled |
| you | idled |
| he;she;it | idled |
| we | idled |
| you | idled |
| they | idled |
Pluperfect
| I | had idled |
| you | had idled |
| he;she;it | had idled |
| we | had idled |
| you | had idled |
| they | had idled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would idle |
| you | would idle |
| he;she;it | would idle |
| we | would idle |
| you | would idle |
| they | would idle |
Perfect
| I | would have idled |
| you | would have idled |
| he;she;it | would have idled |
| we | would have idled |
| you | would have idled |
| they | would have idled |
Imperative
| you | idle |
| we | Let's idle |
| you | idle |
Verbs conjugated like 'idle'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'idle'
isle,
sidle,
able,
adde,
addle,
adze,
bale,
bide,
bile,
birle,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to be idle
- arse about, arse around, bludge, bum around, cabbage, clown around, dawdle, dick about, dick around, dilly-dally, drumble, faff, faff about, faff around, fanny about, fanny around, fart about, fart around, fiddle about, fiddle around, fool about, fool around, footle, goof around, goof off, hang about, hang around, hang out, horse around, jerk off, lallygag, laze, laze about, laze around, linger, loaf, loaf about, loaf around, loiter, lollygag, mess around, mill about, mill around, muck about, muck around, tarry, waste time, while
- waste
- loaf, bum, loiter, dawdle, dally, brogue
Antonyms
- waste
- conserve, gain, get, acquire
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From Middle English idelen, from Old English īdlian, from Proto-West Germanic *īdlēn. Cognate with German eiteln (“to make empty, free up”). See: German, old spelling '
eiteln'.
Verbs referencing "idle"
Finnish with old forms
idlailla.
Sample Sentences
-
[…] the ne'er-do-anything-at-home who idled his day in immaculate attire and who was banished to Canada on a "remittance," shares his pork and beans with the sourdough, who has scratched rocks and sifted black sand from his infancy. [1912, Frederick Arthur Talbot, Making Good in Canada, page 81:]
-
While idling the hours I trace verses / On the inside of wrappers embellishing cans Of Bordeaux mackerel, caught in Monterey. [1920, Raine Bennett, After the Day: A Collection of Post-war Impressions, page 1:]
-
he […] lay in his blind idling the hours until the rising tide would send the shorebirds in across the marsh. Not far off two sons of Southern Italy were lazily transferring a stack of cut salt hay to a one horse hay cart. [1967, Urner Field Observer, page 49:]
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'If I know William, he'll be settled in some airy corridor, idling the hours until he can ride in comfort.' [2017 September 1, Angela King, The Blood of Kings, Open Road Media, →ISBN:]
-
to idle in an IRC channel
-
He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […] [1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand, page 32:]
-
When train heating is in operation the diesel engine is arranged to idle at 550 r.p.m. which is the minimum at which the generator will deliver its full rated output. [1960 April 26, “Type "3" Diesel-Electric Locomotives for the Southern Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 246:]
-
High levels of all pollutants were found during time idling in stations. [2021 October 6, Paul Clifton, “Network News: RSSB research exposes poor air quality on diesel trains”, in RAIL, number 941, page 14:]
-
The driver idled his engine until the car finally stalled.
-
[L]ayoffs idled 1,900 workers in Ohio and 1,000 in Indiana. At the same time, an Indiana assembly plant recalled 1,200 workers. [1955, United States Bureau of Employment Security, Unemployment Insurance Claims, volumes 11-12, page 14]