as in bought
made beforehand in large numbers
she chose to have her computer designed to her specifications rather than buying an off-the-shelf machine
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Recent Examples of off-the-shelf
Driving the contract renegotiations are a series of executive orders from President Donald Trump, who has moved to consolidate purchasing in the GSA, encourage the use of more off-the-shelf products and overhaul federal procurement regulations.
—
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
The Lincoln Lab researchers achieved this high-data-rate optical link with a commercial off-the-shelf optical transceiver.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 May 2025
Stack Unit Economics Today's robotics startups leverage off-the-shelf components, cloud computing and AI to bring solutions to market in months instead of years.
—Aditya Ranjan, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Instead of Predators and Reapers worth tens of millions of dollars each, Ukraine began purchasing huge numbers of off-the-shelf fliers worth a few hundred dollars apiece—the kind used by filmmakers and enthusiasts—and turned them into highly lethal weapons.
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for off-the-shelf
Bloomberg, Mercury News, 20 May 2025
The Lincoln Lab researchers achieved this high-data-rate optical link with a commercial off-the-shelf optical transceiver.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 May 2025
Stack Unit Economics Today's robotics startups leverage off-the-shelf components, cloud computing and AI to bring solutions to market in months instead of years.
—Aditya Ranjan, Forbes.com, 14 May 2025
Instead of Predators and Reapers worth tens of millions of dollars each, Ukraine began purchasing huge numbers of off-the-shelf fliers worth a few hundred dollars apiece—the kind used by filmmakers and enthusiasts—and turned them into highly lethal weapons.
—IEEE Spectrum, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for off-the-shelf
Recent Examples of Synonyms for off-the-shelf
Adjective
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The chain said that refunds would be available to patrons who had pre-bought tickets.—
Patrick Frater,
Variety,
14 July 2022
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Cineplex has also begun offering refunds to all customers that pre-bought tickets for upcoming film screenings.—
Etan Vlessing,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Jan. 2022
Adjective
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The National Retail Federation expects U.S. online and non-store sales this year to grow as much as 23% from 2020, to roughly $1.13 trillion, the trade group said in June.—
Angus Loten,
WSJ,
27 Oct. 2021
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And online and other non-store sales are expected to increase between 10% and 12%.—
Ivana Pino,
Fortune,
20 Dec. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Off-the-shelf.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/off-the-shelf. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
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