Shelve

English

Verb

Shelve (third-person singular simple present Shelves, present participle shelving, simple past and past participle shelved)

1. (transitive) to place on a shelf

   The library needs volunteers to help shelve books.

2. (transitive) to store, set aside, quit, or halt

   They shelved the entire project when they heard how much it would cost.

3. (Welsh, slang) to have sex with

Noun

Shelve (plural Shelves)

1. A rocky ledge or shelf.
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.181:

     And all was stillness, save the sea-bird's cry, / And dolphin's leap, and little billow crossed / By some low rock or shelve, that made it fret / Against the boundary it scarcely wet.

Thesaurus

adjourn, ascend, bank, cant, careen, climb, continue, decline, defer, delay, descend, dip, dish, drag out, drop, extend, fall, fall away, fall off, give up, go downhill, go uphill, grade, hang fire, hang up, hold off, hold over, hold up, incline, keel, lay aside, lay away, lay by, lay over, lean, list, pigeonhole, pitch, postpone, prolong, prorogate, prorogue, protract, push aside, put aside, put away, put in mothballs, put off, put on ice, rake, recess, reserve, retreat, rise, set aside, set by, shift off, sideline, sidle, slant, sleep on, slope, stand over, stave off, stay, store, stow, stretch out, suspend, swag, sway, table, table the motion, take a recess, tilt, tip, uprise, waive

Etymology

From (plural of) shelf.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ʃɛlv/, SAMPA: /SElv/

Translations

Verb

to place on a shelf

Finnish: panna hyllyyn Italian: mettere sullo scaffale

Swahili: daka (sw)

to store, set aside, quit, or halt

Finnish: hyllyttää (fi) French: suspendre (fr) Italian: accantonare (it), riporre (it)

Norwegian: henlegge (no) c. pl. Russian: класть на полку (ru) Swedish: skrinlägga (sv)

Anagrams

• helves