Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use idle in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, verb, noun

Idle means empty, vacant. Example: “My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.”

Examples of idle by meaning

adjectiveNot being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.

  • My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.
  • You earn no interest on the idle money in the account.2009, Jane Bryant Quinn, Making the Most of Your Money Now

adjectiveAverse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

  • an idle fellow

adjectiveOf no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

  • an idle story; idle talk; idle rumor; idle threats; idle pleasures

verbTo spend (time) in idleness; to waste; to consume.

  • '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

verbTo lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

  • 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.1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand, page 32

verbOf an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

  • 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, “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

verbTo cause (an engine) to idle (run at a slow speed, or out of gear).

  • The driver idled his engine until the car finally stalled.

nounThe lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine.

  • a lumpy idle
  • A slight valve tap was audible at idle but was not noticeable otherwise.

More sentences with idle

  • I blinked away my tears and just idled away the morning.From the entry away
  • The pastor preached that even the least of God’s creatures deserves freedom from needless or idle cruelty.From the entry least
  • It was apparent to all but himself that what was once idle curiosity had become a monomania.From the entry monomania
  • Everywhere he saw flutters of war and knew the rumors of peace were mere idle talk.From the entry flutter
  • She pulled up in a big old Pontiac with a lumpy idle.From the entry Pontiac
  • To live an idle or a useful life.From the entry live
  • I have a bunch of idle assets, such as tools, in my garage that I only use once a year.From the entry idle asset
  • The large rotational inertia of the heavy compressor and turbine rotors makes the engine slow to spool up from idle.From the entry spool up
  • This provided a triplicate of each condition (30 or 60 minutes idle time between pumping).2022, Vincent Busigny, François P. Mathon, Didier Jézéquel, Cécile C. Bidaud, Eric Viollier, Gérard Bardoux, Jean-Jacques Bourrand, Karim…. From the entry triplicate
  • People are unhappy if you are doing well and happy when you are sitting idle at home.2018 April 29, Shreya Mukherjee, “Sonal Vengurlekar on controversies around her: People close to me know the truth”, in Hindustan Times. From the entry chamchagiri
  • At the same time it aims at reducing idle time of specialized and expensive equipment.2017 October 16, Nils Boysen, Dirk Briskorn and Simon Emde, “Parts-to-picker based order processing in a rack-moving mobile robots…. From the entry parts-to-picker
  • My ideal is to be idle and to love a plump girl.2015, Anton Chekhov, The Life and Genius of Anton Chekhov: Letters, Diary, Reminiscences and Biography: Assorted Collection of…. From the entry plump
  • "Pretty much the same old-same old," she lied with an idle shrug.2014, Becca Sinh, The Chieftain's Daughter, →ISBN. From the entry same old-same old
  • The captain used the idle Horse Latitudes to train and prepare the remainder of the crew.2011, Dominic Smith, Bright and Distant Shores, →ISBN, page 125. From the entry horse latitudes
  • Was that an idle boast?” He sighed and gestured her to sit down.2010 November 1, Elizabeth Chadwick, Elizabeth Chadwick Bundle: The Greatest Knight, The Scarlet Lion, and For the King's Favor…. From the entry gesture
  • A train idled on the main track, the engine hissing as it waited for the crew change.2009, Sheldon Russell, The Yard Dog, New York, N.Y.: Minotaur Books, →ISBN, page 210. From the entry take
  • Your computer hibernates after it has been idle for the specified amount of time.2001, Microsoft Corp, Use Hibernate and Standby to Conserve Batteries. From the entry hibernate
  • On idle afternoons I have patiently observed spiders spin shrouds of silk for their trapped prey.2001, Descant. From the entry garua
  • I know of no troves of treasure, piled, lying idle, anywhere.1990, Robert Fagles, transl., The Iliad. From the entry grasping
  • The plant will close and three-quarters of Britain's apple toffeeing capacity will lie idle.1971, The Economist - Volume 239, page 74. From the entry toffee
  • The gnomic belief that the world is conditioned by love is no idle apothegm.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page i. From the entry banausic
  • A governor on the injection pump limits the speed when running idle.1958 July, “German Railbuses for British Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 501. From the entry governor
  • So you see, imagination needs ”moodling”— long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering.1938, Brenda Ueland, If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. From the entry moodling
  • Hand and heart may ache : But idle whims shall not make thee a gaud.1919, Melancthon Woolsey Stryker, Vesper bells. From the entry forseek
  • Oh, 'twas an idle lying one, Pisaro, And came but to intrap me.1915, Aphra Behn, The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. III. From the entry intrap
  • They both lived on money of their own, and were wearisomely idle and over-dressed.1911, G. K. Chesterton, “The Invisible Man”, in The Innocence of Father Brown. From the entry wearisomely
  • She cast up to her every idle gossip she could think of.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide. From the entry threep
  • Zephyr said she would not remain idle.2023 April 27, Jim Robbins, Mike Baker, Jacey Fortin, “A Transgender Lawmaker Is Exiled as Montana G.O.P. Flexes New Power”, in The New…. From the entry zephyr

Meaning of idle

  1. adjective Empty, vacant.
  2. adjective Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
  3. adjective Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.

Full definition of idle

Questions about idle in a sentence

How do you use idle in a sentence?
Idle is used as an adjective, verb and noun. For example: “My computer hibernates after it has been idle for 30 minutes.”
What is a short sentence with idle?
“a lumpy idle”
What does idle mean?
Idle means empty, vacant.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: idle (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use idle in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/idle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.