shelfback

English

Etymology

shelf +‎ back

Noun

shelfback (plural shelfbacks)

1. The vertical surface forming the back of a shelf.
   • 2001, Regina McBride, The Nature of Water and Air (page 62)

     She came home later that day from Mrs. Rafferty's with a blue platter, which she placed standing up against the shelfback in the linen closet.

2. The spine of a book.
   • 1934, The Atlantic Monthly (volume 153, page 71)

     There was the man who collected any old volumes on etymology. There was a collector of books with gilded Victorian shelfbacks.