busy, occupied; hard at work, hard at it; up to one"s ears in, full of business, busy as a bee, busy as a one-armed paperhanger.
meddling &c. v.; meddlesome, pushing, officious, overofficious[obs3], intrigant[obs3].
astir, stirring; agoing[obs3], afoot; on foot; in full swing; eventful; on the alert, &c. (vigilant) 459.
Adv. actively &c. adj.; with life and spirit, with might and main &c.
686,with haste &c. 684, with wings; full tilt, in mediis rebus[Lat].
Int. be alive, look alive, look sharp! move on, push on! keep moving!
go ahead! stir your stumps! age quod agis[Lat]! jaldi[obs3]! karo[obs3]!
step lively!
Phr. carpe diem &c. (opportunity) 134[Latin: seize the day]; nulla dies sine linea [Latin][Pliny]; nec mora nec requies [Latin][Vergil]; the plot thickens; No sooner said than done &c. (early) 132; "veni vidi vici" [Lat][Suetonius]; catch a weasel asleep; abends wird der Faule fleissig [obs3][German]; dictum ac factum [Lat][Terence]; schwere Arbeit in der Jugend ist sanfte Ruhe im Alter[German: hard work in youth means soft rest in age]; "the busy hum of men" [Milton].
#683. Inactivity. -- N. inactivity; inaction &c. 681; inertness &c.
172; obstinacy &c. 606.
lull &c. (cessation) 142; quiescence &c. 265; rust, rustiness.
idleness, remissness &c. adj.; sloth, indolence, indiligence[obs3]; dawdling &c. v. ergophobia[obs3], otiosity[obs3].
dullness &c. adj.; languor; segnity, segnitude; lentor[obs3]; sluggishness &c. (slowness) 275; procrastination &c. (delay) 133; torpor, torpidity, torpescence[obs3]; stupor &c. (insensibility) 823; somnolence; drowsiness &c. adj.; nodding &c. v.; oscitation[obs3], oscitancy[obs3]; pandiculation[obs3], hypnotism, lethargy; statuvolence heaviness[obs3], heavy eyelids.
sleep, slumber; sound sleep, heavy sleep, balmy sleep; Morpheus; Somnus; coma, trance, ecstasis[obs3], dream, hibernation, nap, doze, snooze, siesta, wink of sleep, forty winks, snore; hypnology[obs3].
dull work; pottering; relaxation &c. (loosening) 47; Castle of Indolence.
[Cause of inactivity] lullaby, sedative, tranquilizer, hypnotic, sleeping pill, relaxant, anaesthetic, general anaesthetic &c. 174; torpedo.
[person who is inactive] idler, drone, droil[obs3], dawdle, mopus[obs3]; do-little faineant[Fr], dummy, sleeping partner; afternoon farmer; truant &c. (runaway) 623: b.u.mmer!, loafer, goldbrick, goldbicker, lounger, lazzarone[It]; lubber, lubbard[obs3]; slow coach &c. (slow.) 275; opium eater, lotus eater; slug; lag!, sluggard, slugabed; slumberer, dormouse, marmot; waiter on Providence, fruges consumere natus[Lat].
V. be inactive &c. adj.; do nothing &c. 681; move slowly &c. 275; let the gra.s.s grow under one"s feet; take one"s time, dawdle, drawl, droil[obs3], lag, hang back, slouch; loll, lollop[obs3]; lounge, poke, loaf, loiter; go to sleep over; sleep at one"s post, ne battre que d"une aile[Fr][obs3].
take it easy, take things as they come; lead an easy life, vegetate, swim with the stream, eat the bread of idleness; loll in the lap of luxury, loll in the lap of indolence; waste time, consume time, kill time, lose time; burn daylight, waste the precious hours.
idle away time, trifle away time, fritter away time, fool away time; spend time in, take time in; peddle, piddle; potter, pudder[obs3], dabble, faddle fribble[obs3], fiddle-faddle; dally, dilly-dally.
sleep, slumber, be asleep; hibernate; oversleep; sleep like a top, sleep like a log, sleep like a dormouse; sleep soundly, heavily; doze, drowze[obs3], snooze, nap; take a nap &c. n.; dream; snore one"s best; settle to sleep, go to sleep, go off to sleep; doze off, drop off; fall asleep; drop asleep; close the eyes, seal up the eyes, seal up eyelids; weigh down the eyelids; get sleep, nod, yawn; go to bed, turn; get some z"s, stack z"s [coll.].
languish, expend itself, flag, hang fire; relax.
render idle &c. adj.; sluggardize[obs3]; mitigate &c. 174.
Adj. inactive; motionless &c. 265; unoccupied &c. (doing nothing) 681 unbusied[obs3].
indolent, lazy, slothful, idle, lusk[obs3], remiss, slack, inert, torpid, sluggish, otiose, languid, supine, heavy, dull, leaden, lumpish[obs3]; exanimate[obs3], soulless; listless; drony[obs3], dronish[obs3]; lazy as Ludlam"s dog.
dilatory, laggard; lagging &c. v.; slow &c. 275; rusty, flagging; lackadaisical, maudlin, fiddle-faddle; pottering &c. v.;shilly-shally &c.
(irresolute) 605.
sleeping, &c. v.; asleep; fast asleep, dead asleep, sound asleep; in a sound sleep; sound as a top, dormant, comatose; in the arms of Morpheus, in the lap of Morpheus.
sleepy, sleepful[obs3]; dozy[obs3], drowsy, somnolent, torpescent[obs3], lethargic, lethargical[obs3]; somnifacient[obs3]; statuvolent[obs3], statuvolic[obs3]; heavy, heavy with sleep; napping; somnific[obs3], somniferous; soporous[obs3], soporific, soporiferous[obs3]; hypnotic; balmy, dreamy; unawakened, unawakened.
sedative &c. 174.
Adv. inactively &c. adj.; at leisure &c. 685.
Phr. the eyes begin to draw straws; "bankrupt of life yet prodigal of ease" [Dryden]; "better 50 years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay"
[Tennyson]; "idly busy rolls their world away" [Goldsmith]; "the mystery of folded sleep" [Tennyson]; "the timely dew of sleep" [Milton]; "thou driftest gently down the tides of sleep" [Longfellow]; "tired Nature"s sweet restorer, balmy sleep" [Young].
#684. Haste. -- N. haste, urgency; despatch, dispatch; acceleration, spurt, spirt[obs3], forced march, rush, dash; speed, velocity &c. 274; precipitancy, precipitation, precipitousness &c. adj.; impetuosity; brusquerie[obs3]; hurry, drive, scramble, bustle, fuss, fidget, flurry, flutter, splutter.
V. haste, hasten; make haste, make a dash &c. n.; hurry on, dash on, whip on, push on, press on, press forward; hurry, skurry[obs3], scuttle along, barrel along, bundle on, dart to and fro, bustle, flutter, scramble; plunge, plunge headlong; dash off; rush &c. (violence) 173; express.
bestir oneself &c. (be active) 682; lose no time, lose not a moment, lose not an instant; make short work of; make the best of one"s time, make the best of one"s way.
be precipitate &c. adj.; jump at, be in haste, be in a hurry &c. n.; have no time, have not a moment to lose, have not a moment to spare; work against time.
quicken &c. 274; accelerate, expedite, put on, precipitate, urge, whip; railroad.
Adj. hasty, hurried, brusque; scrambling, cursory, precipitate, headlong, furious, boisterous, impetuous, hotheaded; feverish, fussy; pushing.
in haste, in a hurry &c. n.; in hot haste, in all haste; breathless, pressed for time, hard pressed, urgent.
Adv. with haste, with all haste, with breathless speed; in haste &c.
adj.; apace &c. (swiftly) 274; amain[obs3]; all at once &c.
(instantaneously) 113; at short notice &c., immediately &c. (early) 132; posthaste; by cable, by express, by telegraph, by forced marches.
hastily, precipitately &c. adj.; helter-skelter, hurry-skurry[obs3], holus-bolus; slapdash, slap-bang; full-tilt, full drive; heels over head, head and shoulders, headlong, a corps perdu[Fr].
by fits and starts, by spurts; hop skip and jump.
Phr. sauve qui peut[French: every man for himself][panic], devil take the hindmost, no time to be lost; no sooner said than done &c. (early) 132; a word and a blow; haste makes waste, maggiore fretta minore atto [Italian]; ohne Hast aber ohne Rast [German][Goethe"s motto]; "stand not upon the order of your going but go at once" [Macbeth]; "swift, swift, you dragons of the night" [Cymbeline].
#685. Leisure. -- N. leisure; convenience; spare time, spare hours, spare moments; vacant hour; time, time to spare, time on one"s hands; holiday, relaxation &c. (rest) 687; otium c.u.m dignitate [Lat][obs3][Cic.], ease.
no hurry; no big rush; no deadline.
V. have leisure &c. n.; take one"s time, take one"s leisure, take one"s ease; repose &c. 687; move slowly &c. 275; while away the time &c.
(inaction) 681; be master of one"s time, be an idle man.
Adj. leisure, leisurely; slow &c. 275; deliberate, quiet, calm, undisturbed; at leisure, at one"s ease, at loose ends, at a loose end.
Adv. unhurriedly, deliberately, without undue haste; anytime.
Phr. time hanging heavy on one"s hands; eile mit Weile[Ger].
#686. Exertion. -- N. exertion, effort, strain, tug, pull, stress, throw, stretch, struggle, spell, spurt, spirt[obs3]; stroke of work, st.i.tch of work.
"a strong pull a long pull and a pull all together"; dead lift; heft; gymnastics; exercise, exercitation[obs3]; wear and tear; ado; toil and trouble; uphill work, hard work, warm work; harvest time.
labor, work, toil, travail, manual labor, sweat of one"s brow, swink[obs3], drudgery, slavery, f.a.gging[obs3], hammering; limae labor[Lat]; industry, industriousness, operoseness[obs3], operosity[obs3].
trouble, pains, duty; resolution &c. 604; energy &c. (physical) 171.
V. exert oneself; exert one"s energies, tax one"s energies; use exertion.
labor, work, toil, moil, sweat, f.a.g, drudge, slave, drag a lengthened chain, wade through, strive, stretch a long arm; pull, tug, ply; ply the oar, tug at the oar; do the work; take the laboring oar bestir oneself (be active) 682; take trouble, trouble oneself.
work hard; rough it; put forth one"s strength, put forth a strong arm; fall to work, bend the bow; buckle to, set one"s shoulder to the wheel &c.
(resolution) 604; work like a horse, work like a cart horse, work like a galley slave, work like a coal heaver; labor day and night, work day and night; redouble one"s efforts; do double duty; work double hours, work double tides; sit up, burn the candle at both ends; stick to &c.
(persevere) 604a; work one"s way, fight one"s way; lay about one, hammer at.
take pains; do one"s best, do one"s level best, do one"s utmost; give one hundred percent, do the best one can, do all one can, do all in one"s power, do as much as in one lies, do what lies in one"s power; use one"s best endeavor, use one"s utmost endeavor; try one"s best, try one"s utmost; play one"s best card; put one"s best leg foremost, put one"s right leg foremost; have one"s whole soul in his work, put all one"s strength into, strain every nerve; spare no efforts, spare no pains; go all lengths; go through fire and water &c. (resolution) 604; move heaven and earth, leave no stone unturned.
Adj. laboring &c. v.
laborious, operose[obs3], elaborate; strained; toilsome, troublesome, wearisome; uphill; herculean, gymnastic, palestric[obs3].
hard-working, painstaking; strenuous, energetic.
hard at work, on the stretch.
Adv. laboriously &c. adj.; l.u.s.tily; pugnis et calcibus[Lat]; with might and main, with all one"s might, with a strong hand, with a sledge hammer, with much ado; to the best of one"s abilities, totis viribus[Lat], vi et armis[Lat], manibus pedibusque[Lat], tooth and nail, unguibus et rostro[Lat], hammer and tongs, heart and soul; through thick and thin &c.
(perseverance) 604a.
by the sweat of one"s brow, suo Marte.
Phr. aide-toi le ciel t"aidera[Fr]; "and still be doing, never done"
[Butler]; buen principio la mitad es hecha [Sp]; cosa ben fatta e" fatta due volie [It];"it is better to wear out than to rust out" [Bp. Hornel]; labor omnia vincit "labor, wide as the earth, has its summit in Heaven"
[Lat][Vergil][Carlyle]; le travail du corps delivre des peines de l"esprit [Fr][fr]; manu forti[Lat]; ora et labora[Lat].
#687. Repose. -- N. repose, rest, silken repose; sleep &c. 683.
relaxation, breathing time; halt, stay, pause &c. (cessation) 142; respite.
day of rest, dies non, Sabbath, Lord"s day, holiday, red-letter day, vacation, recess.
V. repose; rest, rest and be thankful; take a rest, take one"s ease, take it easy.
relax, unbend, slacken; take breath &c. (refresh) 689; rest upon one"s oars; pause &c. (cease) 142; stay one"s hand.
lie down; recline, recline on a bed of down, recline on an easy chair; go to rest, go to bed, go to sleep &c. 683.
take a holiday, shut up shop; lie fallow &c. (inaction) 681.
Adj. reposing &c. v[of people].; relaxed &c. v.; unstrained.
[of materials and people] unstressed.
Adv. at rest.
Phr."the best of men have ever loved repose" [Thompson]; "to repair our nature with comforting repose" [Henry VIII].
#688. Fatigue. -- N. fatigue; weariness &c. 841; yawning, drowsiness &c. 683; la.s.situde, tiredness, fatigation, exhaustion; sweat; dyspnoea.