on the shelf

1. Inactive, not employed, as in With mandatory retirement at 65, many useful employees are put on the shelf . [Second half of 1500s]

2. In a state of disuse, as in We'll have to put her proposal on the shelf until we have more funds . [Late 1800s]

3. Without prospects of marriage. For example, After she broke her third engagement, her parents were sure she'd be on the shelf . This usage is always said of a woman and today considered offensive. It is probably obsolescent. [Early 1800s] All these usages allude to an article left on the shelf of a store, bookcase, or the like.

Example Sentences

On the shelf in front of him during the abuse were adult nappies used to stem blood, alongside a leather-bound Bible.

From BBC

In 2021 — after years of sitting on the shelf during the Trump administration — the Biden administration made the proposal a top priority.

From Los Angeles Times

Despite repeated reassurances from Abbasi, Strong, writer Gabriel Sherman and actor Sebastian Stan, who plays Trump, that “The Apprentice” was not a political polemic but a character study, it seemed plausible, as recently as August, that the film would remain on the shelf until after next month’s election, if not indefinitely.

From Los Angeles Times

This option, however, also keeps the discounted food on the shelf, where it takes up valuable space that could otherwise hold fresher inventory.

From Salon

On one particular evening, days before Sam’s birthday — a date that looms large in the life of this lonesome duo — Amelia reads from a book she’s never seen before on the shelf.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• asleep
• comatose
• inert
• inoperative
• latent
• passive
• sidelined
• sluggish