E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Shot Window (A)
—i.e. shot-out or projecting window, and not, as Ritson explains the word, a “window which opens and shuts.” Similarly, a projecting part of a building is called an out-shot. The aperture to give light to a dark staircase is called a “shot window.”
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“Mysie flew to the shot window… . ‘St. Mary! sweet lady, here come two well-mounted gallants.’”—Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chaps. xiv. and xxviii.
