act vs idle

act

noun
  • A display of behaviour. 

  • A product of a legislative body, a statute. 

  • A display of behaviour meant to deceive. 

  • A division of a theatrical performance. 

  • Something done once and for all, as distinguished from a work. 

  • Any organized activity. 

  • A performer or performers in a show. 

  • A formal or official record of something done. 

  • The process of doing something. 

  • A thesis maintained in public, in some English universities, by a candidate for a degree, or to show the proficiency of a student. 

  • Something done, a deed. 

verb
  • Of a play: to be acted out (well or badly). 

  • To perform a theatrical role. 

  • To play (a role). 

  • To convey an appearance of being. 

  • To map via a homomorphism to a group of automorphisms (of). 

  • To feign. 

  • To do something. 

  • To have an effect (on). 

  • To behave in a certain manner for an indefinite length of time. 

  • To do something that causes a change binding on the doer. 

idle

noun
  • An idle animation. 

  • An idle game. 

  • The lowest selectable thrust or power setting of an engine. 

  • The state of idling, of being idle. 

adj
  • Not engaged in any occupation or employment; unemployed; inactive; doing nothing in particular. 

  • Not being used appropriately; not occupied; (of time) with no, no important, or not much activity. 

  • Averse to work, labor or employment; lazy; slothful. 

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

verb
  • To spend in idleness; to waste; to consume. 

  • Of an engine: to run at a slow speed, or out of gear; to tick over. 

  • To lose or spend time doing nothing, or without being employed in business. 

How often have the words act and idle occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )