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

After sitting idle for months at a maintenance facility, it relocated in early July to waters off a strip of coastline known as the Kalma Peninsula.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 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

When my sisters and I are lying down after lunch and my mind is idle, I think of these scenes.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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

Batman co-creator Bob Kane wrote in his 1998 autobiography “Batman and Me”: “The rich foppish Don Diego, Zorro’s alter ego, inspired Bruce Wayne’s facade of being a bored, wealthy idler and playboy.”

From Washington Post ● Dec. 29, 2020

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

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 9, 2020

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

He does not wish to meet the idler who is rushing through the picture-galleries of the past for a new distraction or sensation, where he himself is looking for example and encouragement.

From Thoughts Out of Season (Part II) by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

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

The inquiries into Milton's indebtedness to forerunners strike me as among the idlest inquiries of the kind—which is saying a great deal.

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by George Saintsbury

The suggestion that an attack from the Confederate forces at Corinth was imminent, would have been dismissed as the idlest and weakest of apprehensions.

From History of Morgan's Cavalry by Basil Wilson Duke

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

Your internal machinery fires when you want to sleep and idles when you need to be sharp.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 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

The strike idles many entertainment industry workers, delaying the start of the television season until November.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023

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

A line of black town cars idles at the curb while their drivers smoke and chat with each other.

From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon

A fire at the plant in September idled the rolling line where aluminum sheet is produced.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

He said he wanted to restore idled mines to profitability and keep miners employed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 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

The red Toyota pickup truck idled past us.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

He has introduced bonuses for drivers who can squeeze more mileage by reducing idling and driving more slowly.

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 brother leaned in the window of the car idling beside them, pulled out a small flat box, and handed it to Stick.

From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon