shelf
- noun
- /ʃɛlf/
- The kitchen shelf was filled with spices and cooking utensils.
- books on shelves
- library shelves
- shelf space
You go to my shelf in the foyer.
- You go to my shelf in the foyer.
- I have books on my shelf at my bedside.
- Go take a look on a shelf next to a book.
- It's not something you have on the shelf for some doomsday war.
- But it isn't just that rear shelf that's huge back here.
- Into a a shelf with a door on it.
- When I went back to look, I saw that the shelf had collapsed.
Examples
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OK, so this is what the shelf looks like.
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I have books on my shelf at my bedside.
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The one with the product on the shelf in the store is first.
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And then we also got a little shelf over here similar.
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How much more shelf space is left?
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The building currently provides shelf space for 1.4 million volumes and seating capacity for 1,300 people.
Academic text (2012) -
She'll be working the register and stocking the shelves.
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Vanessa can have her own bathroom, and you can have your own walk-in closet with a shelf just for your shoes.
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Another time-saving change was creating a shelf in the learning commons that would house textbooks for all courses.
Academic text (2013) -
All of these tables have shelves and stacks and stacks of books.
Synonyms
A shelf attached to a wall or part of a bookcase for holding books
A shelf above a fireplace for showing clocks or photos
A small table fixed to a wall for holding things
A shelf above a fireplace where people put clocks or photos
A narrow shelf fixed to a wall for showing plates and small decorations
A shelf above a fireplace that holds photos or candles
A shelf or stand that holds books
Idioms
Compounds
- Specialized
A shallow part of the sea next to a continent, usually less than 200 meters deep
- UK
A large area of ice attached to land that sticks out over the sea, often near the poles
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word shelf comes from an old word scelf meaning a 'ledge' or 'thin piece of wood', like a flat board you can put things on. That's why a shelf is a flat board fixed to a wall or frame to hold objects.