shelve

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   place on a shelf

   Shelve books.

2. 2
   verb

   To furnish (a place) with shelves; especially, to furnish (a library, etc.) with bookshelves.

   To shelve a closet or a library.

3. 3
   verb

   To place (something) on a shelf; especially, to place or arrange (books) on a bookshelf.

   The library needs volunteers to help shelve books.

4. 4
   verb

   To place (something) in a certain location, as if on a shelf.

   I love shelving ecstasy!

Simplified etymology

The verb shelve dates from the late 16th century and was formed from shelves, the plural of shelf. It had the sense “project like a shelf.” Shelf itself came from Middle Low German schelf.

From Late Middle English shelven (“to separate (someone or something) from another thing, keep away”); further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from shelf, shelfe (“shelf; cabinet, cupboard; grassy bank”) (though this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary); or * related to West Frisian skelf (“not level or straight, oblique”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary