A gunshot directed at a cow, or historically, an animal that has been shot.
Compound of 'cow' and 'shot' (past tense of 'shoot', from Old English 'scēotan'). This term likely developed in hunting and ranching contexts where cattle might be hunted or culled.
In frontier history, the 'cowshot' was sometimes the only way to preserve meat in pre-refrigeration times—skilled hunters could judge distance and wind to bring down cattle humanely from remarkable distances.
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