shelf

CEFRA1

/ʃɛlf/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A flat surface used for storing or displaying things.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.

Examples

  • Your comic books are on the shelf.

  • Put it on the shelf above.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
1

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The capacity of such an object

  2. 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.

  3. The part of a repository where shelvesets are stored.

More examples

In context

  • Which way is the cheese shelf?

  • We keep the old newspapers on the bottom shelf of the cupboard, and our photos on the top shelf.

  • a shelf of videos

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

I stored the jars on the highest blank in the kitchen.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English schelfe, probably from Old English sċylfe, sċilfe (“shelf, ledge, deck of a ship”), from Proto-West Germanic *skilfijā, from Proto-Germanic *skelfō (“shelf, ledge, cliff”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut”), distantly related to sculpt, carve and shell. Cognate with Dutch schelf (“hay loft, haystack”), German Low German Schelf (“haystack”), Old Norse skjalf (“bench”).