shelves

Noun (1)

shelf (plural shelves)

1. 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.
2. The capacity of such an object
   • a shelf of videos

   Synonyms:

   shelfful

3. A projecting ledge that resembles such an object.
   • In 1981, China's Ministry of Geology surveyed the Taiwan Banks area and reported the following features: The Southern Basin (Taiwan Qian Tan) is situated approximately 200 km (124 mi) south-east of Swatao City and about 10 km (6.2 mi) south of the Taiwan Banks on the transition between shelf and...1985, Mark J. Valencia, “Issues: Hydrocarbon Potential and Jurisdictional Disputes”, in South-East Asian Seas: Oil Under Troubled Waters: Hydrocarbon Potential, Jurisdictional Issues, and...
4. The part of a repository where shelvesets are stored.
   • This is where the Visual Studio Shelving function can help. A shelf is a place on the server in source control that is separate from the main code line so it will not affect other developers.2012, Bradley Irby, Reengineering .NET

Noun (2)

shelf (plural shelves or shelfs)

1. A reef, sandbar, or shoal.
   • But with a ſlaw ſuddein chauffing ſtorm-bringer Orion, / Spurnt vs too the waters: then ſootherne ſwaſhruter huffling / Flung vs on high ſhelueflats, to the rocks vs he buffeted after.1582, Virgil, “The Firste Booke of Virgil His Aeneis”, in Richard Stanyhurst, transl., The First Foure Bookes of Virgils Æneis, […], London: […] Henrie Bynneman […], published 1583, →OCLC...

See all 7 meanings of shelf

Noun

shelve (plural shelves)

1. (archaic) A rocky shelf or ledge of a cliff, a mountain, etc.
   • "This lake," said Bruce, "whose barriers drear / Are precipices sharp and sheer, / Yielding no track for goat or deer, / Save the black shelves we tread,[…]"1815, Walter Scott, “Canto Third”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co....

See all 13 meanings of shelve