shelf-stable

[shelf-stey-buhl]

adjective

1. (of food, liquid, or medicine) able to be stored safely for a long time without refrigeration.

   We always keep a couple of shelf-stable boxes of almond milk on hand now that both of us have gone vegan.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shelf-stable¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Water bottles are stacked in the kitchen and tucked under her mother’s bed; closets are packed with canned and shelf-stable foods, some marked to last until 2054.

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Gelatin wasn’t a punchline; it was progress, the same way Tang was progress, the same way a shelf-stable “cheese food” promised modernity.

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Casserole, salad, cake — all upgraded, rebranded, distanced from the image of gloppy cream-of-whatever soup and shelf-stable “cheese food.”

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The hunt for a shelf-stable, life-saving substitute for human blood.

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Entire grocery aisles were built around the promise of control — sugar-free, fat-free, guilt-free — delivered via individually wrapped, shelf-stable, microwaveable trays.

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