Female elephant scoffing hot dog (4)
I believe the answer is:
chow
'dog' is the definition.
(chow is a kind of dog)
'female elephant scoffing hot' is the wordplay.
'female elephant' becomes 'cow' (a female elephant is called a cow).
'scoffing' indicates putting letters inside.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'cow' enclosing 'h' is 'CHOW'.
(Other definitions for chow that I've seen before include "Long-haired Chinese dog or slangy food" , "eats" , "Nosh" , "Food (colloq.)" , "Barker" .)