gather dust

present singular third person gathers dust · participle present gathering dust · participle past gathered dust · past gathered dust

1. idiomaticTo remain unused for a long period of time.

   Since he bought the book, it's just been sitting on the bookshelf and gathering dust.

   1 more example

   As we contemplate the half-finished arterial roads and electrification plans of our own age, and the town-planning schemes that gather dust in the public libraries, we can admire the drive and action of the railway pioneers.

   1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800