on the shelf

prepositional phrase

Laid aside.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. idiomaticLaid aside.

    I knew something of gunnery once, but now I'm on the shelf.

    2021, Bennet Copplestone, The Silent Watchers: England's Navy during the Great War
    1. idiomaticUnused; abandoned.
    2. idiomaticTabled; mothballed.
  2. especiallyidiomaticUnmarried, typically through lack of interest from potential spouses.
  3. idiomatichobbiesInjured.

Translations

Czech na ocet
  • na ocetunmarried
Portuguese ficar para tia, ficar para titia
  • ficar para tiaunmarried
  • ficar para titiaunmarried
Scottish Gaelic air an sgeilp
  • air an sgeilpunmarried
Spanish quedarse para vestir santos
  • quedarse para vestir santosunmarried
Vietnamese ế
  • ếunmarried

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with on the shelf

selfyourselfitselfhimselfmyselfherselfshelfelfGuelphtwelfththyselfthemselfourselfdelfdelphhisselfRelphHelfBelfatselfChelfcoselfeirselfemself
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

on the shelf. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20shelf

MLA

“on the shelf.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20shelf. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “on the shelf,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/on%20the%20shelf.

Source: on the shelf on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.