different between idle vs bludge

English

Etymology

From Middle English idel, ydel, from Old English ?del, from Proto-Germanic *?dalaz. Cognate with Dutch ijdel (“vain, meaningless”), German Low German iedel (“vain, idle”), German eitel (“vain, conceited”), and possibly Old Norse illr ("bad"; > English ill).

Pronunciation

• enPR: ??d(?)l, IPA^(key): /?a?d(?)l/
• Rhymes: -a?d?l
• Homophones: idol, idyll, idyl (US pronunciation)

Adjective

idle (comparative more idle, superlative most idle)

1. (obsolete) Empty, vacant.
2. Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity.
3. Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular.
4. Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful.

   • “I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera, the gorged dowagers, the worn-out, passionless men, the enervated matrons of the summer capital, […]!”

5. Of no importance; useless; worthless; vain; trifling; thoughtless; silly.

6. (obsolete) Light-headed; foolish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ford to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (of no importance): pointless
• See also Thesaurus:lazy

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

idle (third-person singular simple present idles, present participle idling, simple past and past participle idled)

1. (transitive) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume.
2. (intransitive) To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business.

   to idle in an IRC channel

   • 1939, Joan Evans, Chateaubriand (page 32)

     He had already heard of the young man's projected journey — evidently the Comte de Combourg had written many letters while his son idled at St. Malo […]

3. (intransitive) Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over.

Derived terms

• idler

Related terms

• (sense 3) idling speed

Translations

Noun

idle (plural idles)

1. The state of idling, of being idle.
2. (gaming) An idle animation.
3. (gaming) An idle game.

   Synonyms: idle game, incremental game

References

• idle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• idle in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• idle in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• Diel, deli, diel, eild, lied

English

Etymology

Backformation from bludger.

Pronunciation

Noun

bludge (uncountable)

1. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) The act of bludging.
2. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Easy work.
   • 2011, Irini Savvides, Sky Legs, unnumbered page,

     ‘Seriously, you?ve got sheep at school?’ I said.

     ‘Yeah, heaps of kids here do Ag. Reckon it?s a big bludge, like drama.’

Synonyms

• (easy work): doddle

Verb

bludge (third-person singular simple present bludges, present participle bludging, simple past and past participle bludged)

1. (Australia, obsolete, slang) To live off the earnings of a prostitute.
2. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To not earn one's keep, to live off someone else or off welfare when one could be working.
3. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To avoid one's responsibilities; to leave it to others to perform duties that one is expected to perform.
   • 2002, Donald Friend, Anne Gray (editor), The Diaries of Donald Friend, Volume 1, page 343,

     One of the mess orderlies had consistently bludged on the rest of us all day.

4. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To do nothing, to be idle, especially when there is work to be done.
   • 1998, Marion Halligan, Rosanne Fitzgibbon, The gift of story: Three decades of UQP short stories, page 96,

     Now, you get back out there and you bludge! I don't want to see anyone working, OK? I don't want to see any pick-axes, any hammers, or nothing.

   • 2004, John Smyth, Robert Hattam, et al., ‘Dropping Out,’ Drifting Off, Being Excluded: Becoming Somebody Without School, page 53,

     I mean, school?s like a job. If you work for it you get your grades; if you work your hours you get your money. But if you bludge, you don't get money; if you bludge you don't get any grades. That's something that I didn't realize when I was young.

5. (Australia, New Zealand, slang) To take some benefit and give nothing in return.

   Can I bludge a cigarette off you?

Synonyms

• (live off someone else): freeload, sponge
• (avoid one's responsibilities): shirk
• (be idle, do nothing): idle, laze, lounge
• (take without giving back): cadge, scrounge

Related terms

• bludger

Translations

Anagrams

• bugled, bulged