What (who) is shelf - definition
shelf
n.
1.
Ledge.
2.
Shoal, shallow, rock, ledge.
shelf
shelf1
¦ noun (plural shelves)
1. a flat length of wood or rigid material attached to a wall or forming part of a piece of furniture, providing a surface for the storage or display of objects.
2. a ledge of rock or protruding strip of land.
a submarine bank, or a part of the continental shelf.
Phrases
off the shelf not designed or made to order.
on the shelf
1. no longer useful or desirable.
2. past an age when one might expect to be married.
Derivatives
shelf-ful noun (plural shelf-fuls).
shelf-like adjective
Origin
ME: from Mid. Low Ger. schelf; related to OE scylfe 'partition', scylf 'crag'.
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shelf2 Austral./NZ
informal
¦ noun (plural shelfs) an informer.
¦ verb inform on.
Origin
1930s: prob. from the phr. on the shelf 'out of the way'.
shelf
(shelves)
1.
A shelf is a flat piece of wood, metal, or glass which is attached to a wall or to the sides of a cupboard. Shelves are used for keeping things on.
He took a book from the shelf.
...the middle shelf of the oven.
N-COUNT
2.
A shelf is a section of rock on a cliff or mountain or underwater that sticks out like a shelf.
The house stands on a shelf of rock among pines.
N-COUNT
see also continental shelf
3.
If you buy something off the shelf, you buy something that is not specially made for you. (BRIT)
...off-the-shelf software.
? tailor-made
PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n
Pronunciation examples for shelf
1. shelf.
Heiress Without a Cause _ Sara Ramsey _ Talks at Google
2. empty shelf.
Happier at Home _ Gretchen Rubin _ Talks at Google
3. Let's just break this shelf. Okay, that shelf broke.
ted-talks_131_AnandAgarawala_2007-320k
4. when it's on your shelf, you get a shelf life
ted-talks_1410_ChipKidd_2012-320k
5. on the shelf.
The Magic of Reality - How we know what's really true _ Professor Richard Dawkins _ Talks at Google
Examples of use of shelf
1. "It is much better than going from shelf to shelf.
2. Penney store, and now runs a business where the meaning of a dollar is displayed on shelf after shelf.
3. "The Markham Ice Shelf had half the biomass for the entire Canadian Arctic Ice Shelf ecosystem as a habitat for cold, tolerant microbial life; algae that sit on top of the ice shelf and photosynthesis like plants would.
4. The shelf offer would be based on a shelf prospectus that Gazit Globe filed on May 21, 2008, and amended on October 30, 2008.
5. Russia maintains that the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater shelf that runs through the Arctic, is connected to its continental shelf, and is thus part of its offshore territory.