shelf life

American

noun

the term or period during which a stored commodity remains effective, useful, or suitable for consumption.

Many medicines have a very short shelf life.

shelf life British

noun

the length of time a packaged food, chemical, etc, will last without deteriorating

"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

Etymology

Origin of shelf life

First recorded in 1925–30

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.

See Examples For:

shelf life

Twinkies’ shelf life is considered a wonder of food science.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

It’s bold, heavily angled and has a short shelf life?

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

“The giants of the marketplace have processed our food to death to extend shelf life and expand distribution,” he said in a 2006 interview.

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026

Food preservatives are widely used in industrially processed foods to extend shelf life and maintain product quality.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 18, 2026

Some had cases of “survival crackers”—bulgur wheat blocks with an estimated shelf life of three thousand years.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023