on the shelf

Idioms  

1. Inactive, not employed, as in With mandatory retirement at 65, many useful employees are put on the shelf . [Second half of 1500s]

2. In a state of disuse, as in We'll have to put her proposal on the shelf until we have more funds . [Late 1800s]

3. Without prospects of marriage. For example, After she broke her third engagement, her parents were sure she'd be on the shelf . This usage is always said of a woman and today considered offensive. It is probably obsolescent. [Early 1800s] All these usages allude to an article left on the shelf of a store, bookcase, or the like.

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Example Sentences

Someone added a little joke poster to the message board where people left notes for each other: “Sandy June’s Legendary Is a No-Selfie Zone. Enforced by Elf on the Shelf. He Comes to the Rez for Summer Work.”

From Literature

Clare’s single, undead ear might have missed the soft clink of jars on the shelf above the hearth.

From Literature

Now, Disney’s ABC network could lose at least $70 million with a nearly finished season of “The Bachelorette” sitting on the shelf.

From Los Angeles Times

He wants his brands— such as Huggies, Kleenex tissues and Scott paper towels—to be the least-expensive items on the shelf while also advertising new features.

From The Wall Street Journal

I watched him pick through the brown paper packets on the shelf behind him.

From Literature

Related Words

• asleep
• comatose
• inert
• inoperative
• latent
• passive
• sidelined
• sluggish