bookshelf

[ book-shelf ]

noun

, plural book·shelves.

1. a shelf for holding books, especially one of several shelves in a bookcase.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bookshelf¹

First recorded in 1810–20; book + shelf

Example Sentences

This technology is just sitting on our bookshelves and almost none of us are using it.

From Nautilus

Some of her other favorite projects include building bookshelves, restoring an old bike, and crafting a jewelry box as a gift for a friend.

From MIT Technology Review

I once hid behind a fallen bookshelf in a school, thinking I’d be safe.

From Washington Post

Capitol Police were barricading the doors with tables and bookshelves, she said.

From Washington Post

For those who don’t want to clutter their window sills and bookshelves, hanging planters offer a chic, floating alternative.

From Popular-Science

There is a large frame on the bookshelf in my bedroom in New York.

From The Daily Beast

I helped him find pictures of a bookshelf and suited business people at a conference table.

From The Daily Beast

And the woman steadied herself on a bookshelf and the tears came down.

From The Daily Beast

All the same, it gives one a chance to survey the bookshelf (and more) of work.

From The Daily Beast

Prosecutors say Fernandez caused the fatal injuries by slamming him into a bookshelf.

From The Daily Beast

"Certainly—certainly," said the Assistant Commissioner, waving one large hand in the direction of a bookshelf.

From Project Gutenberg

One cannot enter a schoolroom or look at a boy's bookshelf without seeing half-a-dozen of his familiar volumes.

From Project Gutenberg

Behold the bookshelf of a dunceWho borrows—never lends; Yon work, in twenty volumes, onceBelonged to twenty friends.

From Project Gutenberg

Across the forward bulkhead was a bookshelf crammed to overflowing with volumes of all sizes, many upside down and some coverless.

From Project Gutenberg

He reached up to the bookshelf for what looked like an ancient ledger, and turned over the leaves.

From Project Gutenberg