I. ˈshel]f, ˈsheu̇] noun
( plural shelves ]vz\)
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English shelfe, shelf, probably from Old English scylfe deck of a ship, shelf; akin to Old English scylf pinnacle, crag, ledge, Middle Low German schelf frame, rack, Middle Dutch schelve hayrick, haystack, Old Norse skjölf bench (in Hlithskjölf, Odin's throne), Latin scalpere, sculpere to dig, scratch, carve, cut, Greek skalops mole (animal), Old English sciell shell — more at shell
1.
a. : a thin flat usually long and narrow piece of wood or other material fastened horizontally at a distance from the floor (as on a wall or in a frame) to hold objects
b. : one of several similar pieces in a closet, bookcase, cabinet or similar structure
c. : the books or other contents of a shelf : a number of items constituting or held to constitute the contents of a shelf
2. : something resembling a shelf in form or position: as
a. : a sandbank in a river or the sea : a rock or ledge of rocks usually partially submerged : reef , shoal
b. : a stratum with a shelflike surface : bedrock under alluvial soil
c. : a flat projecting layer of rock
d. : the submerged border of a continent or of an island extending from the shoreline to the depth at which the sea floor begins to descend steeply toward the bottom of the ocean basin — see continental shelf
3. : a longitudinal member of a wooden vessel extending the entire length immediately below the deck beams which rest on and are fastened to it
4. : the upper edge of the bow hand on which an arrow rests when the bow is drawn
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- on the shelf
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to put on the shelf : shelve 3a
brigadiers shelfed as principals of colleges — Charles Kingsley