shelf

American  

[shelf] / ʃɛlf /

noun

• shelves
  plural

1. a thin slab of wood, metal, etc., fixed horizontally to a wall or in a frame, for supporting objects.

2. the contents of this.

   a shelf of books.

3. a surface or projection resembling this; ledge.

4. Physical Geography.

   1. a sandbank or submerged extent of rock in the sea or river.

   2. the bedrock underlying an alluvial deposit or the like.

   3. continental shelf.

5. Archery. the upper part of the bow hand, on which the arrow rests.

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idioms

1. off the shelf, readily available from merchandise in stock.

   Any of those parts can be purchased off the shelf.

2. on the shelf,

   1. put aside temporarily; postponed.

   2. inactive; useless.

   3. without prospects of marriage, as after having broken an engagement.

shelf British  

/ ʃɛlf /

noun

1. a thin flat plank of wood, metal, etc, fixed horizontally against a wall, etc, for the purpose of supporting objects

2. something resembling this in shape or function

3. the objects placed on a shelf, regarded collectively

   a shelf of books

4. a projecting layer of ice, rock, etc, on land or in the sea See also continental shelf

5. mining a layer of bedrock hit when sinking a shaft

6. archery the part of the hand on which an arrow rests when the bow is grasped

7. See off the shelf

8. put aside or abandoned: used esp of unmarried women considered to be past the age of marriage

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verb

1. slang (tr) to inform upon

shelf Scientific  

/ shĕlf /

1. See continental shelf

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shelf More Idioms  

1. see off the shelf; on the shelf.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• shelflike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• shelves
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of shelf

1350–1400; Middle English; Old English scylfe; akin to Low German schelf shelf, Old Norse -skjalf bench

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shelf shelves

Democracy is not something you pick off a shelf.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

"Luckily, there's an experimental drug sitting on the shelf that's already been shown to be safe in humans," said Saltiel.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2026

Suddenly, a huge shelf of snow moves under her in a single piece, like a blanket sliding off a bed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

McLoughlin, who fondly remembers PlayStation cases on a bedroom shelf and getting new games for Christmas, says "it would suck to see physical games disappear completely".

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

To his left was a shelf lined with top hats.

From "Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher" by Bruce Coville

Since his arrest, publishers and book shops have pulled his works from shelves while schools in some states have removed Jasper's books from teaching lists.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Better to “keep calm and carry on,” as the old wartime slogan put it, than to be seen cleaning supermarket shelves of bottled water and canned tuna.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Before, the books were placed on the general shelves in alphabetical order.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

By the time I remember it’s happening, all the good sweets are gone from grocery store shelves, so any visiting trick-or-treaters get butterscotch suckers, breath mints or candy corn.

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026

Two tall filing cabinets guard the door, but what impresses me the most is all the shelves.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

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Related Words

• counter
• cupboard
• ledge
• rack

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