off-the-shelf
readily available from merchandise in stock.
made according to a standardized format; not developed for specialized or individual needs; ready-made: off-the-shelf computer programs.
Origin of off-the-shelf
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use off-the-shelf in a sentence
And the company says that most of the parts are off-the-shelf, not custom-built—which helps keep costs down.
Start-Up Automaker Elio Builds Small, Cheap, Two-Seater Car | Daniel Gross | August 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASToff-the-shelf versions like the one Kate purchased go for £295—roughly $500.
How Different Is Raising the Royal Baby From a Typical American Child? | Kevin Fallon, Lizzie Crocker | July 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTGenes are not simple off-the-shelf parts with one expression.
He looked nothing at all like the young men we see in the take-'em-off-the-shelf clothing ads.
Fore! | Charles Emmett Van LoanThe robots were easy enough—just off-the-shelf stuff, really—but the costumes and kinematics routines were something else.
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom | Cory Doctorow
He knew where you could get plans for the robotics, and off-the-shelf motors and sensors.
Makers | Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for off the shelf
from stock and readily available: you can have this model off the shelf
of or relating to a product that is readily available: an off-the-shelf model
of or denoting a company that has been registered with the Registrar of Companies for the sole purpose of being sold
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with off-the-shelf
Ready-made, available from merchandise or in stock, as opposed to a special order. For example, Sometimes you can get a better discount by buying an appliance off the shelf. [First half of 1900s] Also see off the rack; on the shelf.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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