# shelve

Pronunciation: say "SHELV" /ʃɛlv/

## Verb

1. To put something on a shelf, most often books that are being put away or arranged in order.
   - Simple: To put books or other things onto a shelf.
   - _The clerk shelved the returned volumes in alphabetical order._
   - _Volunteers shelve donated paperbacks every Saturday morning._
2. To postpone or set aside a matter or project, or stop dealing with it entirely.
   - Simple: To put off a plan or problem, or stop dealing with it.
   - _Management chose to shelve the merger after the talks collapsed._
   - _The committee shelved the proposal indefinitely._
3. To make someone stop serving in an active role.
   - Simple: To take someone out of active duty or service.
   - _The general shelved the officer pending the investigation._
   - _Teams often shelve veterans who can no longer keep pace._
4. To fit a place with shelves, especially to fit a library with bookshelves.
   - Simple: To fit a room or other space with shelves.
   - _The contractor shelved the new reading room over two weekends._
   - _Builders shelve the alcoves before the cabinets go in._
5. To slope, as a shore or sandbank does where it runs down into deeper water.
   - Simple: Of ground or a surface, to slope downward or upward.
   - _The shoreline shelves gradually into deeper water._
   - _Wide sandbanks shelve out below the tideline._
6. To place something in a particular spot, as though putting it on a shelf.
   - Simple: To put something in a particular spot, as if you were setting it on a shelf.
   - _Climbers shelve their packs on a narrow ledge before the final scramble to the summit._
   - _The waiter had shelved three plates along his forearm before he left the kitchen._

## Noun

7. A rocky ledge or shelf projecting from a cliff, mountain, or similar height. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A flat rocky ledge that sticks out from a cliff or mountain.
   - _The eagles nested on a high shelve of bare stone._
   - _Water dripped from the mossy shelve above the cave mouth._
10. Alternative spelling of shelf. *(archaic)* — Alternative spelling of shelf (“a reef, sandbar, or shoal”).
   - Simple: Alternative spelling of shelf. An old word for a reef, sandbar, or shoal in shallow water.

## Verb

8. To project or hang over something, like a shelf. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: Of a rock or surface, to stick out over the space below, like a shelf.
   - _Heavy boughs shelve above the forest path._
   - _The stone cornice shelved far beyond the wall below._
9. To rest or lie in an inclined or sloping position. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To sit or lie at a slope rather than flat or level.

## Other meanings

- (verb) To unload a cart by tilting it until its contents are discharged.
- (verb) To take drugs by inserting them into the rectum or vagina.
- (verb) To have sexual intercourse with someone.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–4, 6–8** — The verb is a back-formation from "shelves," the plural of "shelf," meaning a flat, rigid structure used to store or support objects. The noun comes from an obsolete sense meaning to hang over or project like a shelf.
**Meanings 5, 9** — From Late Middle English "shelven" ("to separate someone or something from another thing, keep away"). The earlier origin is uncertain: possibly from "shelf" (though the Oxford English Dictionary doubts this), or perhaps related to West Frisian "skelf" ("not level or straight, oblique").
**Meaning 10** — This is treated as a singular form of "shelves," the plural of "shelf" in the sense of a reef, sandbar, or shoal.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/shelve (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).