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The bedroom in my apartment is far too small to hold a nightstand. There is, however, this bookshelf. Yes, I stow whatever I'm reading on the lower shelf, but more importantly, it's where I keep a collection of ghost books.
Matthew Tobin Anderson

Meaning of "shelf" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD SHELF

Old English scylfe ship's deck; related to Middle Low German schelf shelf, Old English scylf crag.
info
Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF SHELF

shelf  [ʃɛlf] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SHELF

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Shelf is a verb and can also act as a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb shelf in English.

WHAT DOES SHELF MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of shelf in the English dictionary

The first definition of shelf in the dictionary is a thin flat plank of wood, metal, etc, fixed horizontally against a wall, etc, for the purpose of supporting objects. Other definition of shelf is something resembling this in shape or function. Shelf is also the objects placed on a shelf, regarded collectively.


CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO SHELF

PRESENT

Present
I shelf
you shelf
he/she/it shelfs
we shelf
you shelf
they shelf
Present continuous
I am shelfing
you are shelfing
he/she/it is shelfing
we are shelfing
you are shelfing
they are shelfing
Present perfect
I have shelfed
you have shelfed
he/she/it has shelfed
we have shelfed
you have shelfed
they have shelfed
Present perfect continuous
I have been shelfing
you have been shelfing
he/she/it has been shelfing
we have been shelfing
you have been shelfing
they have been shelfing
Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past
I shelfed
you shelfed
he/she/it shelfed
we shelfed
you shelfed
they shelfed
Past continuous
I was shelfing
you were shelfing
he/she/it was shelfing
we were shelfing
you were shelfing
they were shelfing
Past perfect
I had shelfed
you had shelfed
he/she/it had shelfed
we had shelfed
you had shelfed
they had shelfed
Past perfect continuous
I had been shelfing
you had been shelfing
he/she/it had been shelfing
we had been shelfing
you had been shelfing
they had been shelfing
Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future
I will shelf
you will shelf
he/she/it will shelf
we will shelf
you will shelf
they will shelf
Future continuous
I will be shelfing
you will be shelfing
he/she/it will be shelfing
we will be shelfing
you will be shelfing
they will be shelfing
Future perfect
I will have shelfed
you will have shelfed
he/she/it will have shelfed
we will have shelfed
you will have shelfed
they will have shelfed
Future perfect continuous
I will have been shelfing
you will have been shelfing
he/she/it will have been shelfing
we will have been shelfing
you will have been shelfing
they will have been shelfing
The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional
I would shelf
you would shelf
he/she/it would shelf
we would shelf
you would shelf
they would shelf
Conditional continuous
I would be shelfing
you would be shelfing
he/she/it would be shelfing
we would be shelfing
you would be shelfing
they would be shelfing
Conditional perfect
I would have shelf
you would have shelf
he/she/it would have shelf
we would have shelf
you would have shelf
they would have shelf
Conditional perfect continuous
I would have been shelfing
you would have been shelfing
he/she/it would have been shelfing
we would have been shelfing
you would have been shelfing
they would have been shelfing
Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative
you shelf
we let´s shelf
you shelf
The imperative is used to form commands or requests.
NONFINITE VERB FORMS
Infinitive
to shelf
Past participle
shelfed
Present Participle
shelfing
Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH SHELF


bookshelf
ˈbʊkʃɛlf
delf
dɛlf
delph
dɛlf
elf
ɛlf
Guelph
ɡwɛlf
herself
həˈsɛlf
himself
hɪmˈsɛlf
ice-shelf
ˈaɪsˌʃɛlf
itself
ɪtˈsɛlf
myself
maɪˈsɛlf
off-the-shelf
ˌɒfðəˈʃɛlf
oneself
wʌnˈsɛlf
ourself
aʊəˈsɛlf
pelf
pɛlf
self
sɛlf
themself
ðəmˈsɛlf
thyself
ðaɪˈsɛlf
top-shelf
ˌtɒpˈʃɛlf
unself
ʌnˈsɛlf
yourself
jɔːˈsɛlf

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE SHELF

sheldduck
sheldrake
shelduck
shelf ice
shelf life
shelf mark
shelf-stacker
shelfful
shelflike
shelfroom
shelftalker
shelfy
shell
shell bean
shell company
shell game
shell gland
shell jacket
shell out
shell program

WORDS THAT END LIKE SHELF

continental shelf
do-it-yourself
English self
express oneself
find oneself
good self
higher self
ice shelf
inner self
lend itself
mantel shelf
off the shelf
on the shelf
parcel shelf
Ross Ice Shelf
speak for itself
speak for yourself
the self
thing-in-itself
to be pleased with yourself

Synonyms and antonyms of shelf in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «SHELF»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «shelf» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of shelf

Translation of «shelf» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF SHELF

Find out the translation of shelf to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of shelf from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «shelf» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

架子
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

estante
570 millions of speakers

English

shelf
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

शेल्फ
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

رَفّ
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

полка
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

prateleira
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

বালুচর
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

étagère
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Rak
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Regal
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

선반
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Panci
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

giá
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

அலமாரியில்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

शेल्फ
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

raf
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

scaffale
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

półka
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

полиця
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

raft
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ράφι
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

rak
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

hylla
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

hylle
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of shelf

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SHELF»

The term «shelf» is very widely used and occupies the 7.839 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Very widely used
97
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «shelf» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of shelf
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «shelf».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SHELF» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «shelf» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «shelf» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about shelf

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «SHELF»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word shelf.
1
Chris Abani
My books are often shelved around those of Chinua Achebe and Margaret Atwood, or Chimamanda Adichie and Monica Ali. All of this depends, of course, on the bookstore and how conversant the shelf stocker is with the alphabet.
2
Matthew Tobin Anderson
The bedroom in my apartment is far too small to hold a nightstand. There is, however, this bookshelf. Yes, I stow whatever I'm reading on the lower shelf, but more importantly, it's where I keep a collection of ghost books.
3
Dan Aykroyd
When I'm not acting, I'm writing, building an inventory of scripts. Even if they sit on the shelf, I just keep stacking them up.
4
Kabir Bedi
Every relationship comes with a shelf life; that duration could be a minute or even a lifetime. If, for whatever reasons, a relationship cannot last a lifetime, contrary to what the two people imagined, then both the individuals have to be communicative and have to understand and accept the reality.
5
Robert Bloch
I have the heart of a child. I keep it in a jar on my shelf.
6
Billy Bragg
So, in some ways, the political songs tend to be a bit more like reportage, whereas the love songs tend to be like novels, you can pick them up off the shelf and go into them any time.
7
Jennifer Carpenter
Sometimes when I pick up a book off the shelf, when I'm buying a new book to read, I'll look at all of them and they all have the exact same words inside, but I'll think that one is meant to go home with me. I'll never pick the first thing off the shelf, I'll always go one behind.
8
Shaun Cassidy
I was a teen idol and that has a short shelf life.
9
Jan Chipchase
Many retail stores have consumer trackers that study how long your eyes linger on one product, whether you follow it through by touch, and things that you buy. You can redesign things on a shelf, all by tracking such information.
10
David Conyers
'Star Wars,' 'Doctor Who,' 'Forgotten Realms,' even 'Firefly' and 'The X-Files' have shared world novels and other media. I can't help but notice these settings have large shelf space in bookstores, so their publishers and authors are getting something right.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SHELF»

Discover the use of shelf in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to shelf and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition
An elf who works for and reports to Santa Claus helps children to be on their best behavior.
Carol V. Aebersold, Chanda A. Bell, 2005
2
No Shelf Required: E-books in Libraries
Sue Polanka brings together a variety of professionals to share their expertise about e-books with librarians and publishers.
Sue Polanka, 2011
3
Understanding and Measuring the Shelf-life of Food
The shelf-life of a product is critical in determining both its quality and profitability. This important collection reviews the key factors in determining shelf-life and how it can be measured.
Robert Steele, 2004
4
Shelf Life Assessment of Food
Providing researchers and food industry operators with up-to-date data and procedures, this volume surveys the most critical factors and methods for obtaining accurate and reliable shelf life dating.
Maria Cristina Nicoli, 2012
5
Shelf Life: Stories by the Book
Ten short stories in which the lives of young people in different circumstances are changed by their encounters with books.
Gary Paulsen, 2003
6
Shelf Layouts for Model Railroads
Learn how to build a shelf layout by exploring the possibilities, practicalities, and challenges of linear layout design in a variety of prototype layouts with construction details.
Iain Rice, 2009
7
Continental Shelf Limits: The Scientific and Legal Interface
This book presents a global overview of the key provisions (Article 76) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, under which many countries will be able to claim a significant addition to their continental shelf.
P. J. Cook, Chris Carleton, 2000
8
Food Shelf Life Stability: Chemical, Biochemical, and ...
Food Shelf Life Stability provides a unique approach to understanding this critical subject by examining physical, chemical, and biochemical factors affecting food quality.
Michael Eskin, David S. Robinson, 2000
9
Food Packaging and Shelf Life: A Practical Guide
Organized according to chapters devoted to specific food products, this practical handbook defines the indices of failure for foods as diverse as milk, fruits, bottled water, juices, vegetables, fish, and beef.
Gordon L. Robertson, 2009
10
Shelf Life Evaluation of Foods
This book begins with six chapters reviewing the principles of shelf-life evaluation, followed by ten chapters on a number of selected food products such as chilled yogurt and other dairy desserts, seafood, and meat.
C.M.D. Man, Adrian A. Jones, 2000

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SHELF»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term shelf is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Top-shelf theft: Texas' 'Operation Bottoms Up' cracks down on drink …
Top-shelf liquor was replaced with the cheap stuff — or worse — in one-third of the Texas bars and restaurants tested by state agents, the Texas Alcoholic ... «Fort Worth Star Telegram, Jul 15»
2
NASA: 10000-Year-Old Antarctic Ice Shelf to Disappear by 2020
The last remaining section of Antarctica's Larsen B Ice Shelf — which serves as a barrier to keep glaciers from melting into the ocean — is rapidly disintegrating ... «Newsmax, May 15»
3
NASA: 10000-year-old Antarctic ice shelf will disappear by 2020
The study predicts that what remains of the once-prominent ice shelf, a thick floating platform of ice, most likely will "disintegrate completely" before the end of ... «CNN, May 15»
4
Thinning Antarctic ice shelf could contribute to sea level rise, says …
Tthe leading edge of the remaining part of the Larsen B ice shelf. A separate ice shelf, Larsen C, is thinning from above and below, scientists found. Photograph: ... «The Guardian, May 15»
5
Antarctic ice shelf thinning speeds up
Scientists have their best view yet of the status of Antarctica's floating ice shelves and they find them to be thinning at an accelerating rate. Fernando Paolo and ... «BBC News, Mar 15»
6
Fish Found in Extreme Spot Beneath Antarctic Ice Shelf
The swimmers are in one of the world's most extreme ecosystems, hidden beneath the Ross Ice Shelf, roughly 530 miles (850 kilometers) from the open ocean. «Discovery News, Jan 15»
7
Elf on the Shelf: festive fun or Santa's sinister spy?
The Current: The Elf on the shelf normalizes surveillance, academic says · Elf on the Shelf meets the Internet, gets creepy. The DVD and book that came with our ... «CBC.ca, Dec 14»
8
Merry Christmas: Man Dressed as Elf on A Shelf Arrested for DWI
A New Jersey man was arrested on Friday for driving while intoxicated after police found passed out and wearing an Elf on the Shelf costume. Brian Chellis, 23 ... «Jezebel, Dec 14»
9
The Elf on the Shelf is preparing your child to live in a future police …
For some, the Elf on the Shelf doll, with its doe-eyed gaze and cherubic face, has become a whimsical holiday tradition — one that helpfully reminds children to ... «Washington Post, Dec 14»
10
Denmark to officially claim piece of Arctic shelf, including North Pole
Denmark is set to file claim with the UN to a large area of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. But the claim isn't likely to come ... «RT, Dec 14»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Shelf [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/shelf>. Apr 2024 ».
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