A ship for example with first-rate missile (7)
I believe the answer is:
assegai
'missile' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'a ship for example with first-rate' is the wordplay.
'ship' becomes 'SS' (prefix in ship names eg SS Great Britain).
'for example' becomes 'eg' (short for 'exempli gratia', 'for example' in Latin).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'first-rate' becomes 'ai' (resembles A1, informal term for excellent).
'a'+'ss'+'eg'+'ai'='ASSEGAI'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for assegai that I've seen before include "Spear used in southern Africa" , "spear made from wood" , "A Zulu war spear" , "something pointed" , "Spear of the Bantu-speaking people of Africa" .)