gather dust

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gather dust (third-person singular simple present gathers dust, present participle gathering dust, simple past and past participle gathered dust)

1. To remain unused for a long period of time.

   Since he bought the book, it's just been sitting on the bookshelf and gathering dust.

   • 1951 December, Michael Robbins, “John Francis's "History of the English Railway"”, in Railway Magazine, page 800:

     As we contemplate the half-finished arterial roads and electrification plans of our own age, and the town-planning schemes that gather dust in the public libraries, we can admire the drive and action of the railway pioneers.

• straughted