shelve
verb
Simple meaning
To postpone or put aside, or entirely cease dealing with.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
shehlvIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈʃɛlv
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To postpone or put aside, or entirely cease dealing with (a matter for discussion, a project, etc.).
transitive
To place (something) on a shelf; especially, to place or arrange (books) on a bookshelf.
transitivefigurative
To place (something) in a certain location, as if on a shelf.
transitivefigurative
To set aside (something), as if on a shelf.
transitive
To furnish (a place) with shelves; especially, to furnish (a library, etc.) with bookshelves.
transitiveslang
To take (drugs) by anal or vaginal insertion.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To postpone or put aside, or entirely cease dealing with (a matter for discussion, a project, etc.).
Used this way, shelve is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
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What Does It Mean Here?
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.