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shelf

 
Dictionary: shelf   (shĕlf) pronunciation
n., pl., shelves (shĕlvz).
    1. A flat, usually rectangular structure composed of a rigid material, such as wood, glass, or metal, fixed at right angles to a wall or other vertical surface and used to hold or store objects.
    2. The contents or capacity of such a structure.
    3. Something, such as a projecting ledge of rock or a balcony, that resembles such a structure.
  1. A reef, sandbar, or shoal.
  2. Bedrock.
idioms:

off the shelf

  1. From ready-made merchandise in stock: supplies that were available off the shelf.
on the shelf
  1. In a state of disuse.
    1. Unemployed.
    1. Out of circulation.
    1. Retired.

[Middle English, probably from Middle Low German schelf.]

shelfful shelf'ful' n.

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Architecture: shelf
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1. A flat surface mounted horizontally, used to support or store objects.
2. Any projecting, flat, near-horizontal surface, such as a ledge of rock.


Word Tutor: shelf
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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: A ledge built into a wall or a flat part of a piece of furniture used to hold books or other objects.

pronunciation The large shelf in the den was used to display sports trophies.

Wikipedia: Shelf (computing)
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The Shelf is an interface feature in NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP, and is used as a repository to store links to commonly used files, directories and programs, and as a temporary "holding" place to move/copy files and directories around in the file system hierarchy. In Mac OS X, items may be dragged onto the sidebar area of the Finder while holding the Apple key, but these do not behave as placeholders and cannot be manipulated in the below manner.

The dynamics of the Shelf in file system operations can be illustrated by comparison with the metaphor used in the Microsoft Windows operating systems. In order to move a file the following steps may be taken:

  • the window containing the source folder is opened
  • the window containing the destination folder is opened
  • the desired file in the source directory is dragged to the destination folder

With the NeXT operating systems, in addition to moving files by dragging them from window to window, the following method can be used:

  • the user navigates to the source directory
  • the file is dragged to the Shelf
  • the user navigates to the destination directory
  • the file is dragged from the Shelf to the destination directory

Note that the file, when dragged to the Shelf, has not moved anywhere and is not changed in any way. The Shelf icon is merely a placeholder for the file. In moving the placeholder off the shelf, the actual action occurs.

The NeXT functionality builds upon this concept by allowing the destination directory to be put on the Shelf as well, and the file can be merely dragged to the destination directory icon.

The process is similar to the Microsoft Windows functionality of copying or cutting file system objects (a file or files, a folder or folders, or a combination of both) to the clipboard; the objects are not copied or removed from their original location until the paste operation to the new location is completed. The Shelf concept, though older, is more powerful in that the file system objects, their sources and destinations are persistent and available as long as they are on the Shelf (in the Windows cut, copy, and paste metaphor the objects and locations persist until one copy/move operation is complete or until something else is placed in the clipboard).

Since Shelf icons are 'placeholders' of sorts, icons can be put on the Shelf representing commonly used directories, and commonly used programs can be put on the Shelf as well.

The NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP file management application (called FileViewer and run by the Workspace Manager) also allowed users to have different shelves associated with particular directories. Users simply opened a new browser rooted in a particular subdirectory, and that browser window would show the corresponding shelf, allowing users to have many different shelves based on whatever folder hierarchy they happened to be using to organize their files.

See also


Translations: Shelf
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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - hylde

idioms:

  • off the shelf    fra lager
  • on the shelf    på hylden, skrinlagt, henlagt
  • shelf life    holdbarhed

2.
n. - stikker
v. tr. - stikke

Nederlands (Dutch)
plank, schap, rif

Français (French)
1.
n. - étagère, rayon, clayette

idioms:

  • off the shelf    en série
  • on the shelf    laissé pour compte, en suspens
  • shelf life    durée de conservation, (fig) durée de vie, période de gloire

2.
n. - dénonciateur
v. tr. - informer sur (qn), dénoncer (qn)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Brett, Fach

idioms:

  • off the shelf    vom Ständer
  • on the shelf    ausrangiert, sitzengeblieben
  • shelf life    Lagerfähigkeit

2.
n. - Polizeispitzel
v. - informieren Über, bespitzeln

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ράφι, γείσωμα, (γεωγρ.) μπάγκος, υφαλοκρηπίδα, (αυτοκ.) εταζέρα

idioms:

  • off the shelf    ετοιμοπαράδοτος
  • on the shelf    στο ράφι, (μτφ.) στο ψυγείο/χρονοντούλαπο
  • shelf life    (οικον.) διάρκεια ζωής εμπορεύματος, (οικον.) διάρκεια ζωής ή διατήρησης εμπορεύματος

Italiano (Italian)
picco, scaffale

idioms:

  • off the shelf    dallo stock
  • on the shelf    messo/a in disparte
  • shelf life    durata

Português (Portuguese)
n. - prateleira (f), estante (f)

idioms:

  • off the shelf    pronta entrega
  • on the shelf    ser posto a parte
  • shelf life    validade para armazenagem

Русский (Russian)
полка, отмель, уступ

idioms:

  • off the shelf    из наличного запаса, не по предварительному заказу
  • on the shelf    не у дел
  • shelf life    срок хранения

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - estante, repisa

idioms:

  • off the shelf    disponible en existencia
  • on the shelf    quedarse para vestir santos, arrinconado, olvidado
  • shelf life    vida útil, vida de estante

2.
n. - informante
v. tr. - declarar contra (uno)

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - hylla, klipphylla, avsats

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
架子, 搁板

idioms:

  • off the shelf    现货供应
  • on the shelf    在搁板上, 束之高阁, 不再流行, 推迟执行, 无结婚希望
  • shelf life    货架期, 保存限期

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 架子, 擱板

idioms:

  • off the shelf    現貨供應
  • on the shelf    在擱板上, 束之高閣, 不再流行, 推遲執行, 無結婚希望
  • shelf life    貨架期, 保存限期

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 선반, 모래톱, 활을 쥔 손의 위쪽

2.
n. - 정보제공자
v. tr. - ~에 대해 밀고하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 棚, 一棚分, 岩棚, 暗礁

idioms:

  • off the shelf    在庫があって, 規格品で
  • on the shelf    棚の上で, 棚ざらしにされて, 婚期が遅れて
  • shelf life    貯蔵寿命

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) رف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מדף, בליטה, זיז‬
n. - ‮מודיע משטרתי (אוסטרליה)‬
v. tr. - ‮הודיע על (מישהו)‬


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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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