0 the length of time that a product, especially food, can be kept in a shop before it becomes too old to be sold or used:
1 the length of time that something stays in good condition and can be used:
Because it is vacuum-packed, it has a much longer shelf life than regular beef.
2 the length of time that a product, especially food and medicine, can be kept before it becomes too old to be sold or used:
3 the length of time that something remains useful, popular, successful, etc.:
Today's technology can have a brief shelf life.
Self-help books have a longer shelf life than other bestsellers.
Due to the short shelf life of salad vegetables, it proved impossible to acquire any suspect foods for microbiological analysis.
The shelf life of the product is 1-2 weeks.
Perhaps they would settle for names with a slightly shorter shelf life but fewer double consonants.
Is there a feeling that as more and more courses hit the market their shelf life diminishes?
This, together with its varying strengths in conceptual and methodological grounding should ensure it a long shelf life.
Nevertheless, since this volume brings together such a diversity of information it will have a considerable shelf life.
There is enough theoretical and longitudinal material to give the book a continued interest, but it may already be half-way through its shelf life.
One is thus implicitly confronted with the question of the shelf life of books such as this.