Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who idles; one who spends his time in inaction, or without occupation or employment; a lounging or lazy person; a sluggard.
  • noun Nautical, a member of a ship's crew who is not required to keep night-watch.
  • noun On board a whaler, one who is not required to assist in the capture of whales.
  • noun In machinery, an idle-wheel.
  • noun In railroading, an empty car; an empty.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who idles; one who spends his time in inaction; a lazy person; a sluggard.
  • noun (Naut.) One who has constant day duties on board ship, and keeps no regular watch.
  • noun (Mach.) An idle wheel or pulley. See under Idle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who idles; one who spends his time in inaction.
  • noun One who idles; a lazy person; a sluggard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun person who does no work

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

idle +‎ -er

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word idler.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • This word was used in "Master And Commander."

    June 18, 2012

  • That's amazing! I read it in a book once! How did....

    June 19, 2012

  • Today, everywhere you go, True Religion Australia you will see people, male or female, old or young, wearing jeans. Indeed,True Religion Womens Jeans jeans have grown True Religion Mens Jeansmore and more popular True Religion Womens Bootcut Jeans since the first pair was come out. In newspapers and magazines or on TV, you often come across such ads as "Buy these jeans they are cheap."

    June 19, 2012