idle time
commerce time during which a machine or a worker could be working but is not, as when one job has been completed and tooling or materials for the next are not complete or available: Compare downtime
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use idle time in a sentence
The question of idle time does not enter into computations of the year's possible income and necessary outlays.
The Leaven in a Great City | Lillian William BettsThe Pennsylvania made a round trip in about thirty-five days, with a day or two of idle time at either end.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineIn the idle time between dinner and supper he sat down by the fire, lighted his pipe, repented his unruly tongue, and waited.
Greyfriars Bobby | Eleanor AtkinsonFortunately, a brother was able to pay her doctor's bills, until he also was laid off during part of her idle time.
Making Both Ends Meet | Sue Ainslie Clark and Edith WyattShe had been obliged to go in debt to her landlady for part of her long idle time, after her savings had been exhausted.
Making Both Ends Meet | Sue Ainslie Clark and Edith Wyatt
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