shelf life
Product expiration period
Shelf life is how long a product remains usable or fresh before deteriorating.
Food has a shelf life before spoiling; batteries have a shelf life before losing charge.
The term extends to anything with limited duration: That trend has a short shelf life.
Ideas, celebrities, and technologies all have figurative shelf lives—periods of relevance before obsolescence.
End of validity
- expiryEnd of validity
- longevityDuration of existence
- stabilityResistance to displacement
- perishableProne to decay
nonperishable · preservatives · degradation · spoilage · storage · ambient · refrigerated · frozen
Maintaining something's condition
- qualityStandard or attribute
- ripenessReady to eat state
- unspoiledNot damaged or degraded
- edibleSafe to consume
consumable · sealed · packaging · vacuum-packed · canned · dried · fermented · pasteurized
expiration
End of validity
perishable · nonperishable · preservatives · degradation · spoilage · storage · ambient · refrigerated · frozen · extended
preservation
Maintaining something's condition
edible · consumable · sealed · packaging · vacuum-packed · canned · dried · fermented · pasteurized · sterilized
- pharmacypharmacist, pharmacy, prescription, dispensing, prescriptions
- "life" phraseslifeblood, nightlife, wildlife, lowlife, highlife
- expiration datesexpiration, expiration date, use by, use-by date, sell by
- Cosmetic Safetypatch test, allergy warning, expiration date, preservatives, parabens
- Dairy Safetypasteurization, refrigeration, expiration dates, cold chain, contamination
- egg storageegg carton, egg crate, egg tray, egg basket, egg holder
shelf lifeexpiration
End of validity
permanence · immortality · spoilage · eternity · perishability
shelf lifedecomposition
Breakdown into simpler parts
decay · rot · spoilage · putrefaction · degradation
shelf lifeflash in the pan
Short-lived success
ephemerality · fifteen minutes of fame · transience · obsolescence · one-hit wonder
life, shelf, shelves, bookshelf, shelfful, shelflike, off-the-shelf