How to Use idle in a Sentence
- There has been a lot of idle speculation about what might happen, but no one really knows.
-
The 13 or so ships trapped in the harbor will sit idle for weeks.
—
Edward Lotterman,
Twin Cities,
31 Mar. 2024
-
But for now, people’s skates have been packed away, and the group’s shovels have been idle.
—
Globe Staff,
BostonGlobe.com,
30 Jan. 2023
-
Ships sat idle elsewhere, unsure where and when to dock.
—
Jenny Gross,
New York Times,
26 Mar. 2024
-
Those with cars idle bumper to bumper along a two-mile, softly sloping bridge.
—
Liam Dillon,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Apr. 2023
-
But the Sox still didn’t want to tie up a 40-man roster spot on a pitcher who had been idle for three years.
—
Peter Abraham,
BostonGlobe.com,
22 Feb. 2023
-
Winnipeg was idle and Seattle pulled within 2 points of them for best record in the league.
—
Dylan Bumbarger,
oregonlive,
18 Mar. 2023
-
This lack of rulemaking action doesn’t mean the SEC has been idle.
—
Marisa Coppel,
Fortune Crypto,
29 June 2023
-
There's plenty of torque on tap to pull smoothly in any gear from any speed above the engine's 1200-rpm idle.
—
Frank Markus,
Car and Driver,
1 Aug. 2023
-
Students who are lonely and idle need something to fill their days.
—
Frederick M. Hess,
National Review,
21 Dec. 2023
-
In a twist from the norm, Butler then started the fourth, with the Heat having been idle the previous three days.
—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
30 Apr. 2023
-
But there is always one type of game that is installed and ready to go for the next trip or idle couch moment: a roguelite deck-builder.
—
Kevin Purdy,
Ars Technica,
3 Jan. 2024
-
The state also collects idle well fees, which can run up to $1,500 a year for each inactive well.
—
Tony Briscoe,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Dec. 2023
-
BelAir was struck by footage of inmates standing idle and had an idea.
—
Rick Maese,
Anchorage Daily News,
23 Feb. 2023
-
On the Egyptian side, trucks laden with food and supplies idle, awaiting an opening.
—
Tracy Wilkinson,
Los Angeles Times,
18 Oct. 2023
-
Because of the income stream from toner cartridges alone, the shop was never idle nor broke.
—
Lexy Perez,
The Hollywood Reporter,
9 May 2023
-
Fey and Waters joined Franzese and Seyfried to make idle chitchat as the casting folks set up the cameras inside the audition room.
—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
EW.com,
9 Jan. 2024
-
Tour buses sat idle through the shutdown, and drivers found other gigs.
—
Seth Yudof,
Rolling Stone,
16 Oct. 2023
-
Schmidt had come up with the music in just a few minutes during an idle moment in a rehearsal hall.
—
Neil Genzlinger,
BostonGlobe.com,
13 Aug. 2023
-
The watchdog issued the penalty over systems that tracked the idle time of workers’ scanners and measured the speed of scanning.
—
David Meyer,
Fortune,
23 Jan. 2024
-
Instead of numbing your brain by playing Candy Crunch, try and see where your idle mind takes you.
—
Tim Brinkhof,
Discover Magazine,
5 July 2023
-
Both schools are idle this week as the regular season concludes.
—
Ben Thomas | [email protected],
al,
25 Oct. 2022
-
Do that too long, and you will be disconnected for going idle.
—
Paul Tassi,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2023
-
Too bad the Eagles were idle and couldn't provide those aging Fins with a reason to pop more champagne.
—
Nate Davis,
USA TODAY,
24 Oct. 2022
-
The United States has largely stood idle as Haiti’s crisis deepens.
—
Jason Motlagh,
Rolling Stone,
26 Nov. 2023
-
No navy can afford to keep 1,000 billets filled with idle soldiers for seven years.
—
Kyle Mizokami,
Popular Mechanics,
19 Apr. 2023
-
Dear Carolyn: My spouse and I spend a fair portion of our idle time internetting on our phones.
—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
4 June 2023
-
But when Jan’s will puts Siti at the forefront of the family estate, ideals prove to be idle and blood thicker than water.
—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
7 Dec. 2023
-
The cast of Yellowstone was hardly idle during the show’s prolonged hiatus.
—
Meghan Overdeep,
Southern Living,
6 Feb. 2024
-
These standards do not sit idle as decoration on a break room wall.
—
The Salt Lake Tribune,
27 Oct. 2022
- A group of boys idled in the doorway.
- The cars idled in traffic.
- The factory has been idled by the strike.
- She left the engine idling for a few seconds before she turned it off.
- Thousands of workers have been idled by the bad economy.
- The factory closed, idling several hundred workers.
-
Behold the Maseratis in the queue: eager to race, forced to idle.
—
Rico Gagliano,
New York Times,
3 Aug. 2023
-
Many automakers have had to idle plants for a week or two at a time in the first half of 2021.
—
New York Times,
15 July 2021
-
Cars should not be left to idle in garages attached to homes, even if the garage door is left open.
—
NBC News,
29 Apr. 2021
-
Now the engine idles at nearly 2,000 rpm and feels even more unhinged as the revs rise.
—
Tim Pitt,
Robb Report,
11 July 2023
-
Nissan and Suzuki in Japan will idle some plants this month.
—
Neil Winton,
Forbes,
1 June 2021
-
The family came home one night to find a car idling in their driveway.
—
Kevin Sullivan,
Anchorage Daily News,
21 Aug. 2023
-
The gas plants are paid to idle and be ready, at significant cost.
—
James Conca,
Forbes,
7 July 2021
-
The pandemic forced them to idle factories for two months in 2020.
—
Neal E. Boudette,
New York Times,
4 Jan. 2023
-
Both pickups are built at Wentzville Assembly which was idled during the strike for the full 46 days.
—
Jamie L. Lareau,
Detroit Free Press,
3 Jan. 2024
-
This one, on the second night of a back-to-back against a Warriors team idle the day before, had that feeling.
—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
29 Oct. 2022
-
However, the game doesn’t boot players who idle for too long.
—
Eric Ravenscraft,
Wired,
26 Dec. 2021
-
Staffing shortfalls forced Alta to idle the Wildcat lift for a day and close a restaurant for a few more.
—
Brian Maffly,
The Salt Lake Tribune,
29 Dec. 2021
-
His home studio overlooks half a dozen speedboats idled at a dock.
—
Jeff Weiss,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2023
-
The earthquake has also cast doubt over Japan’s push to restart nuclear plants that have been idled.
—
Reuters,
NBC News,
5 Jan. 2024
-
Car makers have had to idle plants for a lack of chips and prices of some electronic goods are rising as a result.
—
Aaron Tilley,
WSJ,
16 July 2021
-
The world-wide chip shortage has caused car makers to idle plants and has led to higher prices on some electronics.
—
Meghan Bobrowsky,
WSJ,
21 Oct. 2021
-
The courteous thing to do is reduce your speed to idle rather than blowing past others at high speed.
—
Matt Williams,
Dallas News,
1 July 2022
-
Those still in the village are tending livestock and openly idling away their weekdays.
—
Hari Kumar Atul Loke,
New York Times,
28 June 2023
-
While not all members of the WGA are currently working, the strike could soon idle thousands of other workers on the sets of shows and movies.
—
Chris Isidore,
CNN,
2 May 2023
-
The suspect, who wasn't caught, was spotted on security video idling in front of the crime scene for about 15 minutes.
—
Chris Eberhart,
Fox News,
25 Dec. 2023
-
In the Bills’ 31-10 victory over Dallas last weekend, the engine was allowed to idle.
—
Jeff Miller,
Los Angeles Times,
22 Dec. 2023
-
Parking lot lights are on dusk-to-dawn sensors, the venue composts, and prepaid parking reduces the time cars spend idling.
—
Taylor Mims,
Billboard,
29 Mar. 2024
-
Three crossings have been designated in the area for watercraft to idle over the pipe; they’re marked with buoys found on a map the DNR issued.
—
Michelle L. Quinn,
Chicago Tribune,
21 June 2023
-
In December 2022, a woman got into a car that was idling in the parking lot of a Columbus Donatos Pizza and drove off – with twin infant boys in the car’s back seat.
—
Kevin Grasha,
The Enquirer,
23 Feb. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'idle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated:
