European doctors on hand for periods of withdrawal (8)
I believe the answer is:
retreats
'periods of withdrawal' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to communication as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'european doctors on hand' is the wordplay.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'doctors' becomes 'treats' (I've seen this before).
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'hand' becomes 'R' (abbreviation for right, as in the right-hand side).
'e'+'treats'='etreats'
'etreats' put after 'r' is 'RETREATS'.
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for retreats that I've seen before include "Places that afford peace and quiet" , "Backs away" , "tactical withdrawals" , "Of army, falls back before enemy attack" , "Recedes" .)