a. [ Compar. Idler superl. 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. &unr_; clear, pure, &unr_; to burn. Cf. Ether. ] 1. Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren. “Deserts idle.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt. xii. 36. [ 1913 Webster ]

Down their idle weapons dropped. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

This idle story became important. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours. [ 1913 Webster ]

The idle spear and shield were high uphing. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen. [ 1913 Webster ]

Why stand ye here all the day idle? Matt. xx. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Light-headed; foolish. [ Obs. ] Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

Idle pulley (Mach.), a pulley that rests upon a belt to tighten it; a pulley that only guides a belt and is not used to transmit power. --
Idle wheel (Mach.), a gear wheel placed between two others, to transfer motion from one to the other without changing the direction of revolution. --
In idle, in vain. [ Obs. ] “God saith, thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord God in idle.” Chaucer.

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed by away; as, to idle away an hour a day. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Idled p. pr. & vb. n. Idling ] To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Foolish; stupid. [ Obs. ] “The superstitious idle-headed eld.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Delirious; infatuated. [ Obs. ] L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. īdelnes. ] The condition or quality of being idle (in the various senses of that word); uselessness; fruitlessness; triviality; inactivity; laziness.

Syn. -- Inaction; indolence; sluggishness; sloth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Idle-headed; stupid. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who idles; one who spends his time in inaction; a lazy person; a sluggard. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) One who has constant day duties on board ship, and keeps no regular watch. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Mach.) An idle wheel or pulley. See under Idle.

{ } n. Idleness. [ Archaic ] “In ydlesse.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

And an idlesse all the day
Beside a wandering stream. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a idle manner; ineffectually; vainly; lazily; carelessly; (Obs.) foolishly. [ 1913 Webster ]