SHELVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shelve mean? 

• SHELVE (verb)
  The verb SHELVE has 2 senses:

1. hold back to a later time

2. place on a shelf

  Familiarity information: SHELVE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHELVE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shelve    ... he / she / it shelves   
Past simple: shelved   
Past participle: shelved   
-ing form: shelving   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hold back to a later time

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

defer; hold over; postpone; prorogue; put off; put over; remit; set back; shelve; table

Context example:

let's postpone the exam

Hypernyms (to "shelve" is one way to...):

delay (act later than planned, scheduled, or required)

"Shelve" entails doing...:

reschedule (assign a new time and place for an event)

call off; cancel; scratch; scrub (postpone indefinitely or annul something that was scheduled)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "shelve"):

call (stop or postpone because of adverse conditions, such as bad weather)

hold (stop dealing with)

suspend (render temporarily ineffective)

probate (put a convicted person on probation by suspending his sentence)

reprieve; respite (postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

shelver (a worker who puts things (as books) on shelves)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Place on a shelf

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

shelve books

Hypernyms (to "shelve" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They shelve the goods

Derivation:

shelver (a worker who puts things (as books) on shelves)

 Context examples 

When the flame burned up, we saw an arched stone roof above our heads, and broad deal shelves all round us covered with dusty dishes.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Still, this event has provided an important opportunity for researchers to study how ice shelves fracture, with important implications for other ice shelves.

(Massive Iceberg Breaks Off from Antarctica, NASA)

He came down a shelving bank to the stream.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

In the summer months, when air temperatures rise above freezing, the surfaces of these ice shelves are susceptible to melting.

(Surface lakes cause Antarctic ice shelves to ‘flex’, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

And so he wandered on, alternating between depression and elation as he stared at the shelves packed with wisdom.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

When these ice shelves collapse into the sea, they expose towering cliffs of ice along Antarctica's edge.

(Antarctic ice cliffs may not contribute to ice-sheet instability as much as predicted, National Science Foundation)

While five products were named, the TGA have yet to announce the names of the other nine products taken off the shelves.

(Numerous home pregnancy tests recalled after false negative results reported, Wikinews)

Ice shelves are the gatekeepers for glaciers flowing from Antarctica toward the ocean.

(Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf Nearing Its Final Act, NASA)

He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One of three (Inferior, Middle, Superior) paired bony shelves located within the nasal cavity through which inhaled air is taken into the nasopharynx.

(Nasal Turbinate, NCI Thesaurus)