continental shelf

noun

: a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending in a comparatively steep slope to the deep ocean floor

Illustration of continental shelf

• 1 seashore
• 2 continental shelf
• 3 continental slope
• 4 abyssal plain
• 5 seamount

Examples of continental shelf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Unlike the Eastern Seaboard, where turbines can be bolted into the seabed, the continental shelf off the coast in the Pacific plunges steeply. —Rob Nikolewski, Mercury News, 8 May 2025

Opalescent squids live on the continental shelf, where the crust lies 300 to 600 feet deep. —Jules Jacobs, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025

While solar has largely escaped the direct attacks that President Trump has launched against the wind industry — like in an executive order closing the U.S. continental shelf to offshore wind — the president has been dismissive of the industry. —Saul Elbein, The Hill, 24 Feb. 2025

At her daily press briefing on Tuesday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum largely shrugged off Google’s move, noting that Trump’s order only applies to the US continental shelf, suggesting that her country would not abide by it. —Michael Rios, CNN, 28 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1892, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for continental shelf

• bookshelf
• herself
• himself
• hisself
• itself
• meself
• myself
• nonself
• oneself
• thyself
• yourself
• elf

Kids Definition

continental shelf

noun

: a shallow submarine plain of varying width forming a border to a continent and typically ending at the continental slope