idle

The process is somewhat like monitoring a car engine to determine whether it continues running at high speed even when the vehicle is supposed to be idle.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

The equipment delivered to the National Environment Agency in 2013 has been idle for 12 years due to a lack of maintenance and money to run them, according to the EU delegation in Tirana.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

They include gas leaks, spraying substances to cover the smell of fumes and failing to properly maintain idle wells, among others.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

To offset the immense fixed costs of running idle assembly lines, legacy European and UK automakers are opening their doors to Chinese rivals.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

Lupita’s eyes went to the idle men sitting all about them.

From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty

There is an almost continuous succession of scenes in which Nicholson sketches this idler, lover, jokester, manipulator, con man, gambler, loner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2023

Oh, that would be the uncle who willed his farm and estate to Onegin, a charming idler.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 9, 2020

What’s missing is a palpable grit, particularly in Whitted’s performance, that would help us to a belief in Hal’s head-spinning pivot from idler and carouser to beloved hero of the realm.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 10, 2019

Behind it all is John D. Rockefeller Jr. — or Junior, as he was known — a man with a feisty wife and few obvious passions beyond the wish to avoid seeming like an idler.

From New York Times ● Apr. 29, 2013

Racing a whale, reader, seems idle work, but sailors, when far away at sea, do idler things than that.

From The Cruise of the Snowbird A Story of Arctic Adventure by Gordon Stables

Shettleston is one of Britain’s poorest, idlest and sickest places; at 64, male life expectancy is 15 years below the national average and falling.

From Economist ● Jul. 10, 2014

On the idlest previous day in the history of the bureau, Feb. 25, 1932, there had been 56 licenses issued.

From Time Magazine Archive

As Filey was quite the idlest of men, without the preoccupation of being a tolerable sportsman or even a player of games, Miss Levering's little laugh was echoed by others beside Lady Sophia.

From The Convert by Elizabeth Robins

To heap up epithets upon this mysterious force is the idlest sport.

From American Sketches 1908 by Charles Whibley

Hereat broke in the mother: "Sella dear, This is a dream, the idlest, vainest dream."

From Poetical Works of William Cullen Bryant Household Edition by Richard Henry Stoddard

The company has said it could lay off as many as 500 workers as it idles cold-rolled and coated steel operations in Hamilton, Ontario, and concentrates on hot-roll products.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

On a warm day in mid-May, Grohl appears relaxed and self-assured — but not arrogant — as she idles on a sofa in a cozy Studio City ADU owned by her publicist.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026

As I sit in the car with C after the second ICE vehicle sped off, the remaining Wagoneer idles midblock—right in front of C’s house.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2026

An on-board computer steers the kite into the prevailing current, then idles it at slack tide, maintaining a constant depth in the water column.

From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2021

The car idles in front of my house.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

The union and Canadian officials fear significant job losses unless Stellantis resumes production at the auto plant, which has been idled since 2024.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

In the seven-week steel strike of 1952, some 600,000 steelworkers and 1.4 million workers in related industries were idled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

His girlfriend, Britany Jacobs, idled their car in a disabled parking spot, accompanied by the couple’s other child.

From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2026

He voiced his rage over an empty reservoir, idled fire trucks and what he called dangerous brush clearance policies.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026

As a boy Roger had idled away his summers rowing lazily about in Manzanita Bay, a lovely blue cove lying in the lee of the Olympic Mountains.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

Owner-operator Deol uses battery-powered electric air conditioning systems installed on both his trucks so he can turn off the engines and avoid idling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

My guilt eased when I pulled into the drive-through of a pharmacy and the attendant burst out laughing at the sight of the idling microcar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

His comments on the sidelines of G20 talks come as Russian and Ukrainian strikes targeting Black Sea ports have been wrecking and idling agricultural export capacity more quickly than trade flows can recover.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

The previous punishment for idling, as it is known, was £20 but that has now been raised to anywhere from £75 to £150, depending on circumstances.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

The Man in the White Shirt picked up his pace as he saw the buses lined up in the commuter lot, engines idling at a low rumble.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers