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idler

   Also found in: Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.03 sec.
i·dle  (dl)
adj. i·dler, i·dlest
1.
a. Not employed or busy: idle carpenters. See Synonyms at inactive.
b. Avoiding work or employment; lazy: shiftless, idle youth. See Synonyms at lazy.
c. Not in use or operation: idle hands.
2. Lacking substance, value, or basis. See Synonyms at baseless, vain.
v. i·dled, i·dling, i·dles
v.intr.
1. To pass time without working or while avoiding work.
2. To move lazily and without purpose.
3. To run at a slow speed or out of gear. Used of a motor vehicle.
v.tr.
1. To pass (time) without working or while avoiding work; waste: idle the afternoon away.
2. To make or cause to be unemployed or inactive.
3. To cause (a motor, for example) to idle.
n.
1. A state of idling. Used of a motor vehicle: an engine running quietly at idle.
2. A mechanism for regulating the speed at which an engine runs at rest: set the idle higher to keep the motor from stalling.

[Middle English idel, from Old English del.]

idle·ness n.
idler (dlr) n.
idly adv.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.idleridler - person who does no work; "a lazy bum"
nonworker - a person who does nothing
clock watcher - a worker preoccupied with the arrival of quitting time
couch potato - an idler who spends much time on a couch (usually watching television)
dallier, dilly-dallier, dillydallier, lounger, mope - someone who wastes time
dawdler, laggard, lagger, trailer, poke, drone - someone who takes more time than necessary; someone who lags behind
daydreamer, woolgatherer - someone who indulges in idle or absentminded daydreaming
lazybones - a lazy person
lie-abed, slugabed - a person who stays in bed until a relatively late hour
loon - a worthless lazy fellow
shirker, slacker - a person who shirks his work or duty (especially one who tries to evade military service in wartime)
sluggard, slug - an idle slothful person
spiv - a person without employment who makes money by various dubious schemes; goes about smartly dressed and having a good time
sunbather - someone who basks in the sunshine in order to get a suntan
trifler - one who behaves lightly or not seriously
whittler - someone who whittles (usually as an idle pastime)
Translations
idler [ˈaɪdləʳ] nholgazán/ana m/f; vago/a
idler [ˈaɪdləʳ] ndésœuvré(e)oisif/ive
idler [ˈaɪdləʳ] idle nFaulenzer(in) m(f)
idler [ˈaɪdləʳ] nozioso/a, fannullone/a


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
He slept aboard the Idler each night, while I had to go home upon the land to go to bed.
Yet, as the ever-woven verdant warp and woof intermixed and hummed around him, the mighty idler seemed the cunning weaver; himself all woven over with the vines; every month assuming greener, fresher verdure; but himself a skeleton.
After that he wrote many essays in a paper called the Adventurer, and, later still, for two years he wrote for another paper a series of articles called the Idler.
 
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