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.
Noun 4 meanings
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.
“We keep the old newspapers on the bottom shelf of the cupboard, and our photos on the top shelf.”
The capacity of such an object
“a shelf of videos”
A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.
The part of a repository where shelvesets are stored.
Etymology
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.
Similar and opposite words
SHELF at a glance
SHELF has 5 letters and scores 11 points in Scrabble (S 1 + H 4 + E 1 + L 1 + F 4) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #6,851 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with shelf
All rhymesOne letter away
- SHELL8
- SHEAF11
- SKELF12
- THELF11
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