Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SHELF, n. [plur. Shelves. Sax. scylf, whence scylfan, to shelve, Fr. ecueil, a sand-bank.]

1. A platform of boards or planks, elevated above the floor, aud fixed or set on a frame or contiguous to a wall, for holding vessels, utensils, books and the like.
2. A sand-bank in the sea, or a rock or ledge of rocks, rendering the water shallow and dangerous to ships.
3. In mining, fast ground; that part of the internal structure of the earth which lies in an even, regular form. – Encyc.