shelve Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb hold back to a later time
    prorogue; set back; defer; remit; put off; put over; table; postpone; hold over.
    • let's postpone the exam
  2. verb place on a shelf
    • shelve books

WordNet

Shelve transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To furnish with shelves; as, to shelve a closet or a library.
  2. To place on a shelf. Hence: To lay on the shelf; to put aside; to dismiss from service; to put off indefinitely; as, to shelve an officer; to shelve a claim.
Shelve intransitive verb
Etymology
Perhapss originally from the same source as shallow, but influenced by shelf a ledge, a platform.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Shelved ; present participle & verbal noun Shelving
Definitions
  1. To incline gradually; to be slopping; as, the bottom shelves from the shore.

Webster 1913