off-the-shelf

American  

[awf-thuh-shelf, of-] / ˈɔf ðəˈʃɛlf, ˈɒf- /

adjective

1. readily available from merchandise in stock.

2. made according to a standardized format; not developed for specialized or individual needs; ready-made.

   off-the-shelf computer programs.

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off the shelf British  

adverb

1. from stock and readily available

   you can have this model off the shelf

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adjective

1. of or relating to a product that is readily available

   an off-the-shelf model

2. of or denoting a company that has been registered with the Registrar of Companies for the sole purpose of being sold

off the shelf Idioms  

1. Ready-made, available from merchandise or in stock, as opposed to a special order. For example, Sometimes you can get a better discount by buying an appliance off the shelf. [First half of 1900s] Also see off the rack; on the shelf.

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Etymology

Origin of off-the-shelf

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

Startups are now tweaking designs, using off-the-shelf parts and switching to automated manufacturing to bring down prices.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We tried configuring an off-the-shelf tool for our cycle. Too many fields we don’t need, missing the ones we do…So I just built what we needed. Took a night and a morning,” he wrote.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Amodei turned Anthropic into an AI juggernaut by creating off-the-shelf AI tools for businesses, especially for coding.

From The Wall Street Journal

The off-the-shelf solution saves on time and costs as "we don't have to keep teaching people how to use a proprietary tech" developed in-house, Amos added.

From Barron's

Moves to address these "deficiencies" were underway, including the German-led European Sky Shield Initiative, "which aims to close air-defence gaps with off-the-shelf procurement of systems".

From Barron's