on the shelf

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.

Example Sentences

Groups representing grocers and retailers such as Target and Walmart said the ordinance will increase labor costs for employers, leading to higher price tags on the shelf.

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They can interact with ingredients in ways that could impact how long chips stay fresh on the shelf, their flavor and how they look.

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Graham was an early standout during USC’s preseason camp but has been on the shelf since.

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Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK, said the impact of last year's National Insurance rise and the cost of new packaging rules had already "rippled through to prices on the shelf edge" across the supermarket sector.

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Still, unless you’re in the market for a new car, or perhaps have noticed that the cheese imported from France is no longer on the shelf at Costco, you likely have not been much impacted.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• asleep 
• comatose 
• inert 
• inoperative 
• latent 
• passive 
• sidelined www.thesaurus.com
• sluggish