elf-shot

English

Noun

elf-shot (countable and uncountable, plural elf-shots)

1. An elf arrow; elf arrows.
   • 1976, Ulster Folklife:

     Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot.

Adjective

elf-shot (not comparable)

1. (Anglo-Saxon and British mythology and folklore) Maliciously wounded or sickened as a result of having been shot by an elf.
   • 1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, page 16:

     The malicious elves did not confine their attacks to human beings; references to elf-shot cattle are numerous.

   • 1976, Ulster Folklife:

     Frequently this practitioner would keep a stock of elf-shot from which one would be produced by sleight of hand from the ailing animal's flank as evidence that it had indeed been elf-shot.