- a flat board, made of wood, metal, glass, etc., fixed to the wall or forming part of a cupboard, bookcase, etc., for things to be placed on
- I helped him put up some shelves in his bedroom.
- on a shelf The book I wanted was on the top shelf.
- supermarket shelves
- (North American English) store shelves
- The product should hit store shelves by August.
- library shelves
- empty shelves
- the powerful retailers who control what products get shelf space
Collocations Decorating and home improvementDecorating and home improvementHouses- refurbish/renovate/ (British English) do up a building/a house
- convert a building/house/room into homes/offices/(especially North American English) apartments/(British English) flats
- extend/enlarge a house/building/room/kitchen
- build (British English) an extension (to the back/rear of a house)/(North American English) an addition (on/to something)/(British English) a conservatory
- knock down/demolish a house/home/building/wall
- knock out/through the wall separating two rooms
- furnish/paint/ (especially British English) decorate a home/a house/an apartment/a flat/a room
- be decorated in bright colours/in a traditional style/with flowers/with paintings
- paint/plaster the walls/ceiling
- hang/put up/strip off/remove the wallpaper
- install/replace/remove the bathroom fixtures/(British English) fittings
- build/put up shelves
- lay wooden flooring/timber decking/floor tiles/a carpet/a patio
- put up/hang/take down a picture/painting/poster/curtain
- do (British English) DIY/carpentry/the plumbing/the wiring
- make home improvements
- add/install central heating/underfloor heating/insulation
- fit/install double-glazing/a smoke alarm
- insulate your house/your home/the walls/the pipes/the tanks/(especially British English) the loft
- fix/repair a roof/a leak/a pipe/the plumbing/a leaking (especially British English) tap/(North American English usually) faucet
- block/clog (up)/unblock/unclog a pipe/sink
- make/drill/fill a hole
- hammer (in)/pull out/remove a nail
- tighten/untighten/loosen/remove a screw
- saw/cut/treat/stain/varnish/paint wood
Collocations ShoppingShoppingShoppingsee also top-shelf- go/go out/be out shopping
- go to (especially British English) the shops/(especially North American English) a store/(especially North American English) the mall
- do (British English) the shopping/(especially North American English) the grocery shopping/a bit of window-shopping
- (North American English, informal) hit/hang out at the mall
- try on clothes/shoes
- indulge in some retail therapy
- go on a spending spree
- cut/cut back on/reduce your spending
- be/get caught shoplifting
- donate something to/take something to/find something in (British English) a charity shop/(North American English) a thrift store
- buy/sell/find something at (British English) a car boot sale/(British English) a jumble sale/a garage sale/(North American English) a yard sale
- find/get/pick up a bargain
- load/push/wheel (British English) a trolley/(North American English) a cart
- stand in/wait in (British English) the checkout queue/(North American English) the checkout line
- (North American English) stand in line/ (British English) queue at the checkout
- bag (especially North American English) (your) groceries
- pack (away) (especially British English) your shopping
- stack/stock/restock the shelves at a store (with something)
- be (found) on/appear on supermarket/shop shelves
- be in/have in/be out of/run out of stock
- deal with/help/serve customers
- run a special promotion
- be on special offer
- make/complete a purchase
- buy/purchase something online/by mail order
- make/place/take an order for something
- buy/order something in bulk/in advance
- accept/take credit cards
- pay (in) cash/by (credit/debit) card/(British English) with a gift voucher/(North American English) with a gift certificate
- enter your PIN number
- ask for/get/obtain a receipt
- return/exchange an item/a product
- be entitled to/ask for/demand a refund
- compare prices
- offer (somebody)/give (somebody)/get/receive a 30% discount
Extra ExamplesTopics Houses and homesb1, Shoppingb1- He's got a job stocking shelves in a supermarket.
- Her diaries just sat on the shelf for years.
- Hundreds of books lined the shelves.
- I knocked it off the shelf by accident.
- I put the box back on the shelf.
- I've cleared a shelf in the bedroom for you.
- She scanned the shelves of the library for new books.
- Shelves lined the walls behind the long counter.
- Souvenirs filled the shelves.
- The product is flying off the shelves (= selling very quickly).
- The shelves were packed with dolls of every shape and size.
- The supermarket immediately removed the product from its shelves.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- high
- low
- deep
- …
- have
- build
- put up
- …
- be full of something
- contain something
- hold something
- …
- space
- life
- off a/the shelf
- on a/the shelf
- shelf of
- …
- be filled with shelves
- be lined with shelves
- a place on your shelves
- …
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- (geology) a thing like a shelf in shape, especially a piece of rock sticking out from a cliff or from the edge of a mass of land under the sea
Word OriginMiddle English: from Middle Low German schelf; related to Old English scylfe ‘partition’, scylf ‘crag’.
Idioms
See shelf in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee shelf in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishoff the shelf
- that can be bought immediately and does not have to be specially designed or ordered
- I bought this package off the shelf.
- Some courses can be bought off the shelf as self-contained study packages.
on the shelf (informal)
- not wanted by anyone; not used
- (old-fashioned) considered unlikely to get married or find a partner, because of being too old
take something off the market/shelves
- to stop something from being sold
- The slimming pills were taken off the market.
- Thousands of egg products were taken off the shelves following the health scare.
Check pronunciation:
shelf