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

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

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 Literature

I put the photograph back on the shelf and go over to join her.

From Literature

Related Words

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