Thou never hadst in thy house, to stay men’s stomachs,
A piece of Suffolk cheese, or gammon of bacon,
Or any esculent, but sheer drink only,
For which gross fault I here do damn thy license.
Massinger, A New Way to pay Old Debts, act iv. sc. 2.
Shelf. ‘To shelve’ as to shoal, still remains; but not so, except in mariners’ charts, ‘shelf’ as = shallow or sandbank. This ‘shelf’ is quite a distinct word from the ‘shelf’ (of a cupboard).
I thought fit to follow the rule of coasting maps, where the shelves and rocks are described as well as the safe channel.—Davenant, Preface to Gondibert.
God wisheth none should wreck on a strange shelf;
To Him man’s dearer than t’ himself.
Ben Jonson, The Forest, iii.