shelf
noun
[ ʃɛlf ]
• a flat length of wood or other rigid material, attached to a wall or forming part of a piece of furniture, that provides a surface for the storage or display of objects.
Similar:
ledge,
bracket,
sill,
rack,
bookshelf,
mantelshelf,
mantelpiece,
shelving,
predella,
retable,
• a ledge of rock or protruding strip of land.
Origin:
Middle English: from Middle Low German schelf ; related to Old English scylfe ‘partition’, scylf ‘crag’.
shelf
noun
• an informer.
shelf
verb
• inform on (someone).
• "he never shelfed a man in his life"
Origin:
1930s (as a noun): probably from the phrase on the shelf ‘out of the way’.
