on the shelf
Idioms-
Inactive, not employed, as in With mandatory retirement at 65, many useful employees are put on the shelf . [Second half of 1500s]
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In a state of disuse, as in We'll have to put her proposal on the shelf until we have more funds . [Late 1800s]
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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.
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.
They’re giving it a bit to Jannik Sinner, who just wins, wins, wins, now that frenemy Carlos Alcaraz is injured and on the shelf.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
“If it sits on the shelf because at that moment I don’t have a student who needs that mirror, that’s where it stays until I do.”
From Salon • Apr. 26, 2026
Private-label merchandise no longer means generic, unadorned products sitting on the shelf, but rather filling a hole in the assortment at a decent price point.
From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026
As well as affecting prices at the pump, if higher fuel costs persist they could have further knock-on effects on the prices of goods on the shelf.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
I wipe away the sticky circled residue left by half-drunk glasses, and I close the books splayed open with broken spines and tuck them back on the shelf.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
