See Also: Sino-French War(encyclopedia)
Herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine)(health)
Sino-(dictionary)
Sino-(dictionary)
SINO KATALYTICS(finance)
SINO LAND(finance)
SINO PROSPER(finance)
SINO TECHNOLOGY(finance)
Sino-Japanese War(encyclopedia)
SINO HOTELS(finance)

Idle (medicine) and Sino-French War (sh)


Idle (medicine)


idle


1. Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren. "Deserts idle." "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." (Matt. Xii. 36) "Down their idle weapons dropped." (Milton) "This idle story became important." (Macaulay)

2. Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate use; unemployed; as, idle hours. "The idle spear and shield were high uphing." (Milton)

3. Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing nothing; as, idle workmen. "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" (Matt. Xx. 6)

4. Given rest and ease; averse to labour or Employment; lazy; slothful; as, an idle fellow.

5. Light-headed; foolish. Idle pulley, a gear wheel placed between two others, to transfer motion from one to the Other without changing the direction of revolution. In idle, in vain. "God saith, thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord God in idle."

Synonym: Unoccupied, unemployed, vacant, inactive, indolent, sluggish, slothful, useless, ineffectual, futile, frivolous, vain, trifling, unprofitable, unimportant.

Idle, Indolent, Lazy. A propensity to inaction is expressed by each of these words; they differ in the cause and degree of this characteristic. Indolent denotes an habitual love to ease, a settled dislike of movement or effort; idle is opposed to busy, and denotes a dislike of continuous exertion. Lazy is a stronger and more contemptuous term than indolent.

Origin: OE. Idel, AS. Idel vain, empty, useless; akin to OS. Idal, D. Ijdel, OHG. Ital vain, empty, mere, G. Eitel, Dan. & Sw. Idel mere, pure, and prob. To Gr. Clear, pure, to burn. Cf. Ether.

Source: Websters Dictionary


Sino-French War (sh)




(1883-85) Conflict between China and France over Vietnam.

It revealed the inadequacy of China's modernization efforts and aroused nationalistic sentiment in southern China. In 1880, when France began to extend its presence in Vietnam northward from the three southern provinces it controlled, China sent in troops and engaged in limited battles. The governor-General, Li Hongzhang, negotiated an agreement whereby northern Vietnam would be a joint protectorate, but a hard-line government faction in China rejected it. The French defeated Chinese reinforcements in 1883, and the new settlement was more strongly in France's favour. This, too, was rejected in China; after further hostilities, the new Chinese fleet of 11 steamers was destroyed, as was a large shipyard at Fuzhou. In 1885 China signed a peace treaty accepting the settlement of 1883.