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Raju the elephant was left bleeding from spiked shackles and living on hand-outs from passing tourists after he was captured and tied up by his ‘owner’.

Is "bleeding from spiked shackles", because the blood could come from a wound, but not from shackles?

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  • Actually, this would be more accurately expressed as "Raju was bleeding from wounds inflicted by spiked shackles"; but the Mail cultivates a conversational style which obeys the Tolerance Maxim: Whatever should be understood can be omitted.
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 22:16

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In this case, "from" is used in accordance with this definition:

used as a function word to indicate the source, cause, agent, or basis

So the shackles are the cause of the bleeding, not what bleeds.

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  • Suppose I was cut by a knife and now I'm bleeding. Could I write "I am bleeding from the knife"?
    – meatie
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 9:20
  • @meatie Yes, but I can't tell how natural it would sound. But things like: "die from a gun" sound right to me.
    – jinawee
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:18

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