every bit, with difficulty (5)
I believe the answer is:
whole
'every bit' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I don't see?
'with difficulty' is the wordplay.
'with' becomes 'w' (short for with).
'difficulty' becomes 'hole' (hole can mean a difficult situation).
'w'+'hole'='WHOLE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for whole that I've seen before include "undamaged" , "Entire, undivided" , "Integral" , "In entirety" , "Complete, containing all the parts" .)