shelfyadj.1
/ˈʃɛlfi/ Abounding in sandbanks lying near the surface of the water.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > body of water > [adjective] > shallow
shoal839
shoala1400
sheld1507
shelfy1576
shelvy1602
shoaly1612
shelf-spoiled1627
shallowy1890
the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > sandbank > [adjective] > abounding in sandbanks
shelfy1576
shelvy1602
1576 H. Gilbert Disc. Passage Cataia vi. sig. Eiiv Because al seas..are maintained by the abundance of water, waxing more shallow and shelffie towards the ende.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. iii. 99 We had a shelfie shoare.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. v. 228 With dreadfull snares Begirded round, in shelfie gulfes of wracke.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis v, in tr. Virgil Wks. 361 A shelfy Coast, Long infamous for Ships, and Sailors lost.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. i. 257 Among a savage race, whose shelfy bounds With ceaseless roar the foaming deep surrounds.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
shelfyadj.2
/ˈʃɛlfi/ Having ledges or terraces.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [adjective] > like shelves or terraces
shelfy1767
skelvy1787
terraciform1890
1767 F. Fawkes tr. Theocritus Idylliums xxi. 53 Methought I sat upon a shelfy steep.
1887 R. D. Blackmore Cripps xxxvi A mighty hedge of beetling brows, and over-hanging shagginess, and shelfy curves, and brambly depths.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
shelfyadj.3
dialect. (Devon and Cornwall.)
Full of ‘shelf’ or slaty rock. The sense ‘full of strata of rock’ in Webster 1864, to which Ogilvie 1882 adds ‘having rocky ledges cropping up’ is based on quot. 1602.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > metamorphic rock > [adjective] > composed of slate
slatya1529
shelfy1602
slatty1660
1602 R. Carew Surv. Cornwall i. f. 20 The tillable fields are in some places..so shelfie, that the Corne hath much adoe to fasten his roote.
1669 J. Flavell Husbandry Spiritualized i. vii. 70 Sometimes this Plow thin, shelfy ground doth turn.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. at Sea-sand It is sometimes composed of shelly matter alone; but sometimes it is made up partly of this, and partly of broken stones: in this last case it is called shelfy sand.
1778 W. Pryce Mineralogia Cornubiensis 74 The Slate, or Shelfy-stone, is always uppermost next the loamy soil.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.11576adj.21767adj.31602