n.; pl. Elves [ AS. ælf, ylf; akin to MHG. alp, G. alp nightmare, incubus, Icel. ālfr elf, Sw. alf, elfva; cf. Skr. &rsdot_;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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Every elf, and fairy sprite,
Hop as light as bird from brier. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A very diminutive person; a dwarf. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 (Zoöl.), a small owl (Micrathene Whitneyi) of Southern California and Arizona. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To entangle mischievously, as an elf might do. [ 1913 Webster ]

Elf all my hair in knots. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Relating to elves. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A little elf or urchin. Shenstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or relating to the elves; elflike; implike; weird; scarcely human; mischievous, as though caused by elves. “Elfish light.” Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

The elfish intelligence that was so familiar an expression on her small physiognomy. Hawthorne. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In an elfish manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being elfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A little elf. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Fairyland. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Hair matted, or twisted into a knot, as if by elves. [ 1913 Webster ]