shelve

Definition

To furnish (a place) with shelves; especially, to furnish (a library, etc.) with bookshelves.

Etymology

The verb is a back-formation from shelves, the plural of shelf (“flat, rigid structure, fixed at right angles to a wall or forming a part of a cabinet, desk, etc., and used to display, store, or support objects”). The noun is derived from etymology 1 sense 2 (“(obsolete) to hang over or project like a shelf”).

Example Sentences

• "to shelve a closet or a library"
• "The library needs volunteers to help shelve books."
• "Before breakfast I employed myself in airing my old bibliomaniacal hobby, entering all the books lately acquired into a temporary catalogue, so as to have them shelved and marked."