as in to postpone
to assign to a later time
let's shelve the project for now
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Recent Examples of shelve
The suspect in the Golders Green stabbings in April was referred to Prevent in 2020, but his case was shelved that year.
—
The Week Uk, TheWeek, 7 June 2026
The program offers training from shelving to handling cash.
—Marianne Love, Daily News, 4 June 2026
After all, the shock of HBO Max shelving its Batgirl movie for a tax write-off was still in the air, and pop culture was busy writing the superhero genre’s obituary after a string of box office underperformers from both Marvel and DC.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
The film was completed before the Challenger disaster, leaving 20th Century Fox with something of a nightmarish choice on their hands—to shelve the film and lose millions, or send it to theaters and risk a PR disaster.
—Eric Berger & Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 31 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shelve
The Week Uk, TheWeek, 7 June 2026
The program offers training from shelving to handling cash.
—Marianne Love, Daily News, 4 June 2026
After all, the shock of HBO Max shelving its Batgirl movie for a tax write-off was still in the air, and pop culture was busy writing the superhero genre’s obituary after a string of box office underperformers from both Marvel and DC.
—Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026
The film was completed before the Challenger disaster, leaving 20th Century Fox with something of a nightmarish choice on their hands—to shelve the film and lose millions, or send it to theaters and risk a PR disaster.
—Eric Berger & Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 31 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shelve
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shelve
Verb
-
On March 1 of this year, the Qatari soccer federation postponed all matches during the ongoing war between Israel and Iran while other sporting events in the region were also affected.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
13 June 2026
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He had been forced to postpone his own acting ambitions when he was drafted into the Vietnam War, serving 11 months with the 196th Light Infantry Brigade in Tây Ninh.—
Carl Kurlander,
Deadline,
13 June 2026
Verb
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Onlookers were festive and chatty amid thunderstorms that threatened to delay the work.—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
13 June 2026
-
The Friday night news conference at the Lincoln Memorial was delayed for about an hour because of lightning.—
Dan Gelston,
Fortune,
13 June 2026
Verb
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This is the story of what happens to a dream deferred in the dusty apartments, drag clubs and secluded rivers of Colombia in the 1990s.—
Laura Zornosa,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
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The county’s cost-saving measures include eliminating vacant positions, cutting programs, deferring maintenance projects, increasing revenue and implementing layoffs.—
Daniel Lempres,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shelve.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shelve. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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