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affossare

to shelve

verb ahf-fohs-SAH-reh Rare
People & Society Politics

Origin: From fossa (ditch/grave) — literally to push something into a ditch; hence to bury or kill a proposal.

Also means

to torpedo (a plan)

Usage Note

Affossare is primarily figurative in modern Italian: to shelve, kill, or torpedo a project, bill, or proposal — affossare una legge (to kill a bill in parliament). A literal sense of digging ditches exists but is rare today. It conjugates as a regular -are verb. Auxiliary: avere.

Examples

"Il governo ha deciso di affossare la proposta di legge."

Natural Translation

The government decided to shelve the bill.

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