(pl. shelves /ʃelvz/)
1- a flat length of wood or rigid material, attached to a wall or forming part of a piece of furniture, that provides a surface for the storage or display of objects架子; 搁板。
1.1
- a ledge of rock or protruding strip of land突出的岩石; 突出的土地。
1.2
- a submarine bank, or a part of the continental shelf大陆架, 陆棚。
短语
off the shelf
- not designed or made to order but taken from existing stock or supplies现货的, 现成的：
off-the-shelf software packages.
现货软件包。
on the shelf
1
- (of people or things) no longer useful or desirable（人或物）被搁置一旁的; 无用的：
an injury which has kept him on the shelf.
使他一直无法被派上场的伤。
1.1
- (especially of a woman) past an age when one might expect to have the opportunity to marry（尤指大龄妇女）嫁不出去的。
1.2
- (of a music recording or a film) awaiting release on the market after being recorded（音乐唱片, 电影）待发行的。
派生词
shelf-ful
noun （pl. -fuls）shelf-like
adjective词源
Middle English:from Middle Low German schelf; related to Old English scylfe 'partition', scylf 'crag'.