shelf

/ʃelf/

Thân thiện

A child places a book on the wooden shelf.

Definition

Noun 1. A flat, horizontal board or surface fixed to a wall or within a frame, used to hold or store objects. - This is the most common meaning, referring to a physical structure for storage or display. 2. A projecting, horizontal layer of rock, ice, or land, especially on a cliff, mountain, or underwater. - This is a geological or geographical term for a natural, ledge-like formation.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Furniture/Storage):
  • Please put the books back on the shelf.
  • The kitchen shelf is full of spices and jars.
  • He built a new shelf for his model car collection.
• Noun (Geographical Feature):
  • The climbers rested on a narrow rock shelf halfway up the cliff.
  • The continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent, submerged under relatively shallow water.

Advanced Usage and Idioms

• On the shelf:
  • (Idiom) Describing something that is no longer used, active, or popular; put aside or forgotten.

    • That project has been on the shelf for years.
  • (Idiom, somewhat dated) Describing a person, especially a woman, considered to be too old for marriage.

    • In the old novel, she feared being left on the shelf.
• Off the shelf:
  • (Idiom) Describing a product that is standard, ready-made, and available for immediate purchase, not custom-made.

    • We bought the software off the shelf instead of developing a custom solution.

Variants and Related Words

• Shelves (noun): The plural form of "shelf."
  • We need to install more shelves in the garage.
• Shelving (noun): Material (like boards or systems) used to make shelves; the collective term for a set of shelves.
  • We bought metal shelving for the storage room.
• Shelve (verb): To place something on a shelf; to decide not to proceed with a plan or project (to put it "on the shelf").
  • Let's shelve that idea for now and revisit it next year.

Synonyms

• For storage shelf: Ledge, rack, mantelpiece.
• For geological shelf: Ledge, ridge, bench, shoal (if underwater and shallow).

Different Meanings

The two primary meanings are distinct: 1. Man-made object for storage: A constructed item in homes, shops, or libraries. 2. Natural geological formation: A feature of a landscape or seascape, like a continental shelf or a cliff shelf.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a projecting ridge on a mountain or submerged under water
2. a support that consists of a horizontal surface for holding objects

Từ đồng nghĩa

• ledge