shelfy

English

Etymology

shelf +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɛlfi/

Adjective

shelfy (comparative more shelfy, superlative most shelfy)

1. (obsolete) Abounding in shelves; full of dangerous shallows.
   • 1697, Virgil, “The Fifth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     And, o'er the dang'rous deep, secure the navy flies; / Glides by the Sirens' cliffs, a shelfy coast, / Long infamous for ships and sailors lost

2. (obsolete) Full of strata of rock.
   • 1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall. […], new edition, London: […] B. Law, […]; Penzance, Cornwall: J. Hewett, published 1769, →OCLC:

     The tillable fields are in some places […] so shelfy that the corn hath much ado to fasten his root.

Synonyms

• shelvy

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “shelfy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• fleshy