idle 
2978 
(I) On board a whaler, one who is not required 
to assist in the capture of whales. 3. In maclt., 
au idle-whrrl. 
idlesbyt (i'dlz-bi). . [< idle + -s + -by, as in 
rodefiy.] An idle or lazy person. 
Those "nihil agentes," idleslys, or "male agentes," ill 
spenders of their time. 
Whitloctc, Manners of Eng. People, p. 301. 
-all iii. | 
to be unemployed, whether through necessity, need of rest, 
passing fancy, or permanent disposition. To he irt-'.'l is to 
have a strong repugnance to physical exertion, and es- 
pecially to continued application. Slothful and ilwjgish 
express slowness of movement and a corresponding tem- 
perament or disposition. See listless. 
Il.t n. 1. Idleness; indolence. 
His brains rich Talent buries not in Idle. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Magnificence. 
2. An indolent person. idleshipt, . [ME. idclxliii>; < idle + 
Young Boies and Girles Saluages, or any other, bee they Idleness ; sloth ; laziness, 
neuer such idlr:., may turne, carle, or returne a fish, with- 
out either shame or any great painr. 
Cat*. John Smith, Works, II. 189. 
In idiot, in vain. 
Eterne God, that thurgh thy purveiaunce 
Ledest the world by certein governaunce, 
In iidel, as men seyn, ye nothyng make. 
Chaucer, Franklin's Tale, 1. 139. 
Goddis name in ;idil take thou not. 
Hymns to Virgin, etc. (E. E. T. S.X p. 104. 
To be sick of the idlest, to be lazy. Nares. 
idle (i'dl), v. ; pret. and pp. idled, ppr. idling. 
[< ME. idlen, < AS. idliau, become useless (in 
comp. a-idlian, make useless or vain), < idel, 
idle : see idle, a.] I. intrans. To spend or waste 
time in inaction or without employment. 
The gossamers 
That idle in the wanton summer air. 
Shak.,S. and J. , ii. 6. 
My battle-harness idles on the wall. 
Lowell, To G. W. Curtis. 
II. traits. To spend in idleness ; waste : gen- 
erally followed by away: as, to idle away time. 
If you have but an hour, will you improve that hour in- 
stead of idling it aimy! Chesterfield. 
idle-brainedt(i'dl-brand),rt. Foolish; wander- 
ing. 
Is the man idle-brain'd for want of rest? 
Chapman, Odyssey, xvlii. 
idlefullt (I'dl-ful), a. [< idle + -ful.] Marked 
by or due to idleness; indolent; listless. 
Keepes her iu idlefull delitiousnesse. 
Manton, The Fawne, iv. 
idleheadt, . [ME. idelhed (= D. ijdelheid = 
MLG. idellteit= MHG. itelcheit, G. eitelkeit); < idle 
+ -head. Cf. idlehood.] Idleness. Chaucer. 
idle-headedt (I'dl-hed"ed), a. [< idle + head + 
-e<< 2 ; in part a perversion of addle-headed, q. v.] 
1. Confused; foolish. 
The superstitious idle-headed eld 
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age, 
This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth. 
SAt.,M. W. ofW., iv. 4. 
2. Delirious; distracted. 
He could not sleep, and for want of sleep became idle- 
headed. Burton, Auat. of Mel., p. 611. 
Upon this loss she fell idleheaded. Sir R. L' Estrange. 
idlehood (I'dl-hud), . [< idle + hood. Ct.idle- 
For of 
He ILoueJ hateth all the felaushlp. 
Oower, Coin". Amant., iv. 
idless, idlesse (i'dles), . [Pseudo-archaic, < 
idle + -citxe, in imitation of kumbUste, noblesse, 
q. v.] Idleness. [Poetical and rare.] 
Now a days, so irksome idlest' slights 
And cureed charms have witch'd each student's mind, 
That death it is to any of them all, 
If that their hands to penning you do call. 
Greene, Alphonsus, i. 
idleton (i'dl-ton), n. [< idle + -ton, as in sit- 
pleton.] A lazy person. [Prov. Eng.] 
idle-wheel (i'dl-hwel), . 1. A wheel (C, fig. 1) 
placed between two others (A and B) for the 
purpose of transfer- 
ring the motion from 
one axis to the other 
without change of 
direction; a carrier- 
wheel. If A and S were 
in contact, they would re- 
volve in opposite direc- 
tions ; but in consequence 
of the intermediate axis 
of C they revolve in the 
same direction, and with- 
out any change of the ve- 
locity-ratio of the pair. 
2. A wheel that per- 
forms a duty other 
than the transmis- 
sion of power, as the 
preservation of a 
strain on a belt, etc. - Fig 2. 
In flg. 2 the small wheel wie-whceis. 
rests upon the belt to 
maintain its tension, and runs idly, transmitting no power 
idolatrous 
All the gods of the nations are idols. Ps. xcvi. 5. 
Sullen Moloch, fled, 
Hath left in shadows dn-ad 
His burning idol all of blackest hue. 
Hilton, Nativity, 1. 207. 
Uriicr 3. A person on whom or a thing on 
which the affections are strongly set; any 
object of absorbing devotion other than God 
himself. 
To the celestial, and my soul's idol, the most beautified 
Ophelia. Shak., Hamlet, II. 2. 
The Prince wrote to his idol in the style of a worship- 
per ; and Voltaire replied with exquisite grace and ad- 
dress. Macaulay, Frederic the Great. 
4. A phantom or figment of the brain ; a false 
or misleading notion or conception ; an errone- 
ous persuasion ; a fallacy. See idolon. 
The idols of preconceived opinion. Coleridge. 
Bacon divided the fallacies or misconceptions that beset 
mankind into four classes : (1) idols of the tribe (idola tri- 
bus), fallacies incident to humanity in general ; (-1) idols of 
the den (idola ipeau), misapprehensions traceable to the 
peculiar mental or bodily constitution of the individual; 
(S) idols of the market-place (idola fori), errors due to the 
influence of mere words or phrases; (4) idols of the theatre 
(idola theatri), errors due to the prevalence of Imperfect 
philosophic systems or misleading methods of demonstra- 
idolt, . t. [< idol, n.] To worship ; make an 
idol of ; idolize. 
O happy people, where good Princes raign, . . . 
Who iiloi not their pearly Scepters glory. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Babylon. 
idola, . Plural of idolon. 
idolantt, n. [< idol + -ant.] An idolater. 
A count-less hoast of craklng itlolants. 
By F.say'8 Faith, is heer confounded all. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Triumph of Faith, iiii. 8. 
idolastert, idolastret, n. and . [ME. idolaster, 
idolastre, < OF. idolastre, an erroneous form of 
idolatre : see idolater.] I. . Obsolete forms of 
idolater. 
He [Solomon] was a lecchour and an idolastre. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 1054. 
II. a. Idolatrous. 
Her yv'ry neck and brest of Alabastre 
Made Heathen men of her more idolastre. 
T. Hudson, tr. of Du Bartas's Judith, iv. 358. 
< ME. idel- 
liche, < AS. idelliee (= 
ideligen; cf. Sw. idclit/eii), < idel, idle: see idle 
foolishly. 
Thus may 30 sen my besy whel, 
That goth not ideliche aboute. 
dower, MS. Soc. Antiq. 134, f. 111. (Halliwell.) 
God would that (void of painfull labour) he 
Should Hue in Eden ; but not vilely. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., Eden. 
But it would hurt you both extremely to have her marry 
herself idly. Walpole, Letters, II. 468. 
head.'] Thestateof being idle; a habit of idling; idujoneaCid-mo'ne-a), n. [NL.,<Gr.'Io>wi>,in 
idleness. 
Thy craven fear my truth accused, 
Thine idlehood my trust abused. 
Scott, Monastery, xii. 
An obsolete form of 
legend, son of Apollo, an Argonaut and seer : 
cf. iSfiuv, knowing, skilful, < i&iv, see, eiicvai, 
know : see idea.] The typical genus of poly- 
zoans of the family Idmoneidee. Lamarck. 
Species of Tubulipora and Idmonea are common in the 
shallow waters north of Cape Cod. 
Stand. Nat. Bist., I. 241. 
idlelyt (i'dl-li), adv. 
idly. 
idleman (I'dl-man), .; pi. idlemen (-men). A 
gentleman. HalUwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
idle-mOSS (i'dl-m6s), n. Same as beard-moss. 
idleness (i'dl-nes), n. [< WE.ideliiesiie, < AS. idel- 
nes (= OS. idilnusae = OFries. idelnisse = OHG. 
italnissa), < idel, idle : see idle and -ness.] The 
condition of being idle, in any sense of that 
word; inactivity; slothf uluess ; uselessness; 
unprofitableness; worthlessness; foolishness, i-dot. 
Finding by experience that many times idlenesse is lesse idocrase (i'do-kras), n. [< Gr. elSoc. ; form, shape 
harmefull then vnprontable occupation. 
idolater (I-dol'a-ter), . [< ME. idolatre, < OF. 
idolatre, F. idoldtre = Sp. idolatra = Pg. idola- 
tra = It. idolatra, idolatro, < LL. (eccl.) idolo- 
latres, < Gr. fiow/toXarpw, an idol-worshiper, < 
eliu&ov, an idol, + A<zrp<?, a workman for hire, 
a hired servant, Zarpevetv, work for hire, serve, 
worship (> larpeia, service, worship: see latria), 
< /Mrpov, pay, hire. Cf. idolaster.] 1. A wor- 
shiper of idols ; one who pays divine honors to 
images, statues, or representations of anything ; 
one who worships as a deity that which is not 
God. 
Thee shall thy brother man, the Lord from Heaven, . . . 
Count the more base idolater of the two ; 
Crueller, as not passing thro' the fire 
Bodies, but souls. Tennyson, Aylmer s Field. 
2. An adorer ; a devotee ; a great admirer. 
The lover too shuns business and alarms, 
Tender idolater of absent charms. 
Cowper, Retirement, 1. 220. 
The idolater of minute rules will not be offended, as at 
Aosta, with Doric triglyphs placed over Corinthian capi- 
tals. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 114. 
1 SSfrJtS*fS3t rf &!,$& idolatress (i-dora-tre^. [< idolater + -ess; 
ectoproctous polyzoans, typified by the genus 
Idmonea. The zoarium is usually erect, and the branch- 
es are generally subcylindrical and free or anastomosing. 
Species occur in almost all seas. Also called Idmoneada: 
and Horneridix. 
cf . It. idolatrice.] " A f e'male worshiper of idols. 
That uxorious king, whose heart, though large, 
Beguiled by fair idolatresses, fell 
Toidols foul. Milton, P. L., L 444. 
, idolatricalt (5-do-lat'ri-kal), a. [< ML. idola- 
A Middle English past participle of rioL iriem ^ < idolatria, idolatry": see idolatry.] Idola- 
Puttenhani, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 258. 
Either to have it steril with idlenesi 
dustry. 
= Syn, Seeidfe. 
idle-patedt (I'dl-pa/ted), a. [< idle + pate + 
-ed 2 ; in part a perversion of addle-pated, q. v.] 
Idle-headed; foolish; stupid. 
Let him be found never so idle-pated, he is still a grave 
drunkard. Sir T. Overbury, Characters, A Sexton. 
idler (Id'ler), n. [< idle, v., + -eri.] 1. One 
who idles; one who spends his time in inaction, 
or without occupation or employment ; a loung- 
ing or lazy person; a sluggard. 
An idler is a watch that wants both hands, 
As useless if it goes as when it stands. 
Cowper, Retirement, 1. 681. 
2. (a) Naut., a member of a ship's crew who is 
not required to keep night-watch. 
Having called up the idlers namely carpenter, cook, 
and steward we began washing down the decks. 
11. H. Daiut, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 8. 
figure, + /tpaovf, mixture : see crasis.] The min- 
eral vesuvianite. 
or manured with in- idol (i'dol), n. C< ME. idole = D. idool = G. Dan. 
Shak., Othello, i. 3. Sw ;^ y ; oF. 1 -,-^ also idele, idle, F. idole = i 
Pr. idola = Sp. Pg. It. idolo, < L. idolum, idolon, 
an image, form, esp. an apparition, ghost, LL. 
eccl. anidol,< Gr. eiiuhov, an image, a phantom, 
eccl. an idol, < dSivat, know, middle elSeaGat, be 
seen, appear: see wit, and cf. idea. Cf. idolon, 
idolum, eidolon.] 1. An image, effigy, figure, or 
likeness of anything. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Fie, lifeless picture, cold and senseless stone, 
Well-painted idol, image dull and dead. 
SAa*., Venus and Adonis, 1. 212. 
In many mortal forms I rashly sought 
The shadow of that idol of my thought. 
Shelley, Epipsychidion. 
trous. 
Themselves profess it to be idolatry to do so ; which Is 
a demonstration that their soul hath nothing in it that is 
idolatrical. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 415. 
idolatrize (l-dol'a-triz), v.; pret. and pp. idol- 
atrised, ppr. idotatrieing. [< idolatr-y + -4ze. 
Cf. OF. idolatrier, F. idoldtrer = Pr. Sp. Pg. ido- 
latrar = It. idolatrare, < ML. idololatrare, < Gr. 
fiSuAofaiTpeiv, worship idols, < MuMUrprif, an 
idolater: see idolater.] I. intrans. To worship 
idols; practise idolatry. [Rare.] 
And as the Persians did idolatriae 
Unto the sun. 
W. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, L 1. 
II. trans. To adore or worship idolatrously; 
make an idol of; idolize. [Rare.] 
Apollo easily perceived that Lipsius did manifestly idola- 
trize Tacitus. "" Boccalini (trans.), p. 17. (Latham.) 
Summe worschipeu Sjrnu acres, 8j nd sumjne rdofe^ rati(m ': aS) idolatrous veneration for antiquity. 
