Home › Words › S › shelfbackshelfbackshelfback means the vertical surface forming the back of a shelf.Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, shelfback ranks #3,412 of 42,747 for Qualifying.EtymologyFrom shelf + back.nounThe vertical surface forming the back of a shelf.e.g.“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.” — 2001, Regina McBride, The Nature of Water and Air, page 62:The spine of a book.e.g.“There was the man who collected any old volumes on etymology. There was a collector of books with gilded Victorian shelfbacks.” — 1934, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 153, page 71:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).