The Clue
Not occupied (4 letter answer)
The Answer
IDLE
Tags
Notes
The answer IDLE is very common and appears about once every 38 puzzles.
Related Clues
Empty
Fainéant
Furloughed
Groundless
Lallygag
Laze
At liberty
Lounge
Nonworking
Otiose
Pointless
Slothful
Unemployed
Useless
Vain
Waiting
Aimless; pointless
Asleep, say
Between engagements
Doing nothing
Just sitting
Kind of chatter
Not engaged
Not in gear
Not in use
Not working
Nothing doing?
Run in neutral
Turned off
Just twiddling the thumbs
Like some hands
Like some rumors
Like some thoughts
Like some threats
Not scheduled to play
Run in neutral gear
Run without moving
"___ hands are the devil's tools"
Run but go nowhere
Definition
IDLE as a noun:
1. the state of an engine or other mechanism that is idling; "the car engine was running at idle"
IDLE as a verb:
1. (idle, tick over) = run disconnected or idle; "the engine is idling"
2. (idle, laze, slug, stagnate) = be idle; exist in a changeless situation; "The old man sat and stagnated on his porch"; "He slugged in bed all morning"
IDLE as an adjective:
1. not in action or at work; "an idle laborer"; "idle drifters"; "the idle rich"; "an idle mind"
2. (baseless, groundless, idle, unfounded, unwarranted, wild) = without a basis in reason or fact; "baseless gossip"; "the allegations proved groundless"; "idle fears"; "unfounded suspicions"; "unwarranted jealousy"
3. (idle, unused) = not in active use; "the machinery sat idle during the strike"; "idle hands"
4. (idle, light) = silly or trivial; "idle pleasure"; "light banter"; "light idle chatter"
5. (idle, loose) = lacking a sense of restraint or responsibility; "idle talk"; "a loose tongue"
6. (dead, idle) = not yielding a return; "dead capital"; "idle funds"
7. (idle, jobless, out of work) = not having a job; "idle carpenters"; "jobless transients"; "many people in the area were out of work"