elves

3 definitions found

elves - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Elves \Elves\, n.; pl. of Elf.
     [1913 Webster] Elvish \Elv"ish\, a.
     1. Pertaining to elves; implike; mischievous; weird; also,
        vacant; absent in demeanor. See Elfish.
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              He seemeth elvish by his countenance. --Chaucer.
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     2. Mysterious; also, foolish. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]

  Elf \Elf\ ([e^]lf), n.; pl. Elves ([e^]lvz). [AS. [ae]lf, ylf;
     akin to MHG. alp, G. alp nightmare, incubus, Icel. [=a]lfr
     elf, Sw. alf, elfva; cf. Skr. [.r]bhu skillful, artful, rabh
     to grasp. Cf. Auf, Oaf.]
     1. An imaginary supernatural being, commonly a little sprite,
        much like a fairy; a mythological diminutive spirit,
        supposed to haunt hills and wild places, and generally
        represented as delighting in mischievous tricks.
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              Every elf, and fairy sprite,
              Hop as light as bird from brier.      --Shak.
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     2. A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
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     Elf arrow, a flint arrowhead; -- so called by the English
        rural folk who often find these objects of prehistoric
        make in the fields and formerly attributed them to
        fairies; -- called also elf bolt, elf dart, and elf  shot
        .
  
     Elf child, a child supposed to be left by elves, in room of
        one they had stolen. See Changeling.
  
     Elf fire, the ignis fatuus. --Brewer.
  
     Elf owl (Zo["o]l.), a small owl (Micrathene Whitneyi) of
        Southern California and Arizona.
        [1913 Webster]

elves - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  elves
      n 1: an acronym for emissions of light and very low frequency
           perturbations due to electromagnetic pulse sources;
           extremely bright extremely short (less than a msec)
           electrical flashes forming a huge ring (up to 400 km
           diameter) in the ionosphere