To 'shelf something'—more accurately and commonly expressed in standard English as to 'shelve something'—means to formally postpone, delay, table, or set aside a plan, project, idea, or proposal indefinitely. In physical contexts, it can literally mean placing an object onto a shelf for storage. However, in professional, political, and corporate conversations, it is almost exclusively used in its figurative sense to indicate that an initiative has been put on hold with no immediate plans for resumption.
1 votes
Marked as accepted