shelf
A flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects.
Example
“We keep the old newspapers on the bottom shelf of the cupboard, and our photos on the top shelf.”
Other meanings
The capacity of such an object
“a shelf of videos”
A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.
A kind of
- support
Kinds of shelf
- mantle
- keyboard shelf
Word history
From Old English "sċielfe" (sċylfe).
Where this comes from
This definition is adapted from “shelf” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.