downtime
Americannoun
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a time during a regular working period when an employee is not actively productive.
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an interval during which a machine is not productive, as during repair, malfunction, maintenance.
noun
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commerce time during which a machine or plant is not working because it is incapable of production, as when under repair: the term is sometimes used to include all nonproductive time Compare idle time
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informal time spent not working; spare time
Etymology
Origin of downtime
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ridding oneself of unconscious bias can be a daily practice, so I hope this 60-something single man does not sacrifice too much of his downtime for overtime.
From MarketWatch • May 20, 2026
Rental prices for advanced chips have risen sharply, while some AI tools have seen more downtime or have been forced to ration usage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
The folks at the retirement party were glad that he would finally get some well-deserved downtime, but they were also wistful.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
In his downtime he would travel by horse and buggy across Pennsylvania and neighboring states with what he called his "exhibition": a new-fangled Edison phonograph, a magic lantern slide projector and later on, movies.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
I could only hope she’d read it during her 12.5 minutes a day of downtime, even if she couldn’t resist editing it before returning it to me for corrections and a clean second draft.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
