ˈshelf-ful [-ful.] A quantity sufficient to fill a shelf; the contents of a shelf. 1876G. O. Trevelyan Life & Lett. Macaulay (1878) II. xii. 267 A shelf-full of Irish novels.1912Blackw. Mag. May 700/2 The quarrel of Byron with his wife has furnished forth a shelfful of books.