What's the difference between idle and vacant?

Idle


Definition:

  • (superl.) Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren.
  • (superl.) Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours.
  • (superl.) Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen.
  • (superl.) Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow.
  • (superl.) Light-headed; foolish.
  • (v. i.) To lose or spend time in inaction, or without being employed in business.
  • (v. t.) To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume; -- often followed by away; as, to idle away an hour a day.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Even with hepatic lipase, phospholipid hydrolysis could not deplete VLDL and IDL of sufficient phospholipid molecules to account for the loss of surface phospholipid that accompanies triacylglycerol hydrolysis and decreasing core volume as LDL is formed (or for conversion of HDL2 to HDL3).
  • (2) Eager to show I was a good student, the next time we had sex, I noticed that one of my hands was, indeed, lying idle – and started to pat him on the back, absently, as if trying to wind a baby.
  • (3) And imagine he then found that, far from acting swiftly to capture, arrest and charge him, the Metropolitan police force (who knew something about his activities) initially stood idly by as his list of victims grew and grew.
  • (4) The balance is fragile and the threat of a spiral of decline is not an idle one.
  • (5) The KBS hypothesis of autism is not simply an idle exercise.
  • (6) "There are idle MPs with no outside interests and there are fantastic public servants that do have them."
  • (7) On Saturday an idle digg ing machine signalled the hasty clearing of the building site to make way for the refugees, who have fled from countries including Syria and Eritrea .
  • (8) In circumstances in which energy conversion rate and supplies of reducing power exceed the capacity of the biosynthetic machinery, energy-dependent H2 production presumably represents a regulatory device that facilitates "energy-idling."
  • (9) Relative to EM, Meritec had the highest specificity (97%), followed by Virogen (95%), IDL (91%), Pathfinder (85%), Behring (81%), Bartels (72%), and Rotazyme (71%).
  • (10) Thus, introducing fish oil into an atherogenic diet reduced the number of VLDL, IDL and LDL particles in plasma by as much as 50%, reduced the cholesteryl ester content of the circulating lipoprotein, and reduced the ability of the VLDL to stimulate cholesterol esterification in macrophages.
  • (11) 12.44am BST Ah, here's @NotCoachTito, sitting somewhere idly wondering what it's like in Fenway tonight...actually, he may have a decent idea of the atmosphere.
  • (12) It was on the set of The Frost Report that production staff began to refer to Barker and Corbett as "the two Ronnies", while the writing team included Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, and Eric Idle – every Monty Python member bar Terry Gilliam – as well as Marty Feldman and lead writer Antony Jay, who went on to create Yes, Minister.
  • (13) Moreover, a larger fraction of plasma VLDL is transformed into IDL and LDL, the latter representing the main plasma cholesterol carrier.
  • (14) Hagere Selam remains a modest place of mudwalled shops with corrugated roofs, cows, donkeys and sheep wandering unpaved streets and children idling away an afternoon at table football – a generation with no memory of the famine that killed hundreds of thousands and woke up the world.
  • (15) Epidemiological studies in humans suggest that IDL or remnant lipoproteins are predictors of the severity or progression of atherosclerosis.
  • (16) It would be idle to pretend that Cameron doesn't have talents as a leader.
  • (17) A chlorine sanitizer was circulated (5 min, 40 degrees C) and the unit containing sanitizing solution left idle overnight.
  • (18) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Either way, I love Jane for idly sticking two fingers up at the idea of a spa break in Rhodes or other emblems of “sophistication” being the only thing to aspire to.
  • (19) Bidders have spent an estimated £1m each on their bids but, according to one industry source, the process has stalled and franchise owners are being forced to retain expensive but idle bidding teams.
  • (20) The results indicate that a simple depletion of his-tRNA is not sufficient to elicit the response and suggest that idle ribosomes are required for regulation.

Vacant


Definition:

  • (a.) Deprived of contents; not filled; empty; as, a vacant room.
  • (a.) Unengaged with business or care; unemployed; unoccupied; disengaged; free; as, vacant hours.
  • (a.) Not filled or occupied by an incumbent, possessor, or officer; as, a vacant throne; a vacant parish.
  • (a.) Empty of thought; thoughtless; not occupied with study or reflection; as, a vacant mind.
  • (a.) Abandoned; having no heir, possessor, claimant, or occupier; as, a vacant estate.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If women psychiatrists are to fill some of the positions in Departments of Psychiatry, which will fall vacant over the next decade, much more attention must be paid to eliminating or diminishing the multiple obstacles for women who chose a career in academic psychiatry.
  • (2) Deafferentation of certain brain regions in adult animals results in (1) the disappearance of degenerating axon terminals and (2) in the temporary persistence of vacant postsynaptic sites.
  • (3) The data suggests that putrescine may reduce net formation of vacant 70 S ribosomes.
  • (4) Hiddleston, who played spy Jonathan Pine in the Night Manager, has played down speculation that he would take on the role, recently telling the BBC’s Graham Norton Show: “The position isn’t vacant as far as I’m aware.
  • (5) The station looks unloved and there are many vacant plots of land.
  • (6) Simulated territorial intrusion promoted increased plasma levels of both T and 11KT while access to vacant territories without neighboring territorial males did not.
  • (7) Abbott said Simpkins and Randall were “perfectly entitled” to call for the two leadership positions to be declared vacant, but they were “asking the party room to vote out the people that the electorate voted in in September 2013”.
  • (8) Richard Rogers has called for a "severe" new tax on empty homes and warned that prime areas of London are emptying because of wealthy buyers leaving homes vacant.
  • (9) An online communication facility to the central register enables searches for and reporting of vacant treatment capacity.
  • (10) This pathological response can be explained by lacrimotor fibres branching into vacant sympathetic sudomotor pathways.
  • (11) Skin biopsies of non-atopic healthy controls or clinically uninvolved skin in mycosis fungoides had neither any IgE+ cells nor any vacant binding sites.
  • (12) They almost found themselves three goals down as Schürrle took up the space once again left vacant by Marcelo, but, after taking a touch, he fired over.
  • (13) Labour strategists are understood to be planning to stage an early byelection in a vacant Greater Manchester seat in an attempt to minimise the potential of an embarrassing threat from the UK Independence party.
  • (14) It is concluded that the extent of reactive reflex changes may be related to both the number of vacant synaptic sites and the degree of functional synergism between the eliminated and remaining monosynaptic pathways.
  • (15) Four weeks later, it was found in the specimens that the growth of neurofibers sprung out from the end of the proximal stump directed towards the distal nerve stump rather than towards the tendon end or the vacant limb of the tube.
  • (16) Vacant buildings are being pressed into service, and the usual high standards set by the immigration service are being waived.
  • (17) I would like to see a law passed where there is an obligation on owners of properties left vacant for a long time to allow homeless people to temporarily move in.
  • (18) The West Ham board are now considering their options, with interest registered with a number of candidates for the vacant managerial position.
  • (19) NHS England expresses the same concern in the leaked draft report: “The commitment to seven-day GP access is … dependent on the commitment to an additional 5,000 GPs working in general practice, which is a challenging target, both in terms of recruitment and retaining the existing workforce.” Porter said the document “echoes the BMA’s concerns around the government’s recruitment target for GPs, at a time when one in three GPs are considering retiring in the next five years and hundreds of GP trainee posts were left vacant this year.
  • (20) A 22-year-old named Guy Roux sent off an application for the vacant head coach's job at l'Association de la Jeunesse Auxerroise.