Bird starts to eat rancid litter (9)
I believe the answer is:
stretcher
'litter' is the definition.
(I know that stretcher is a type of litter)
'bird starts to eat rancid' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'eat' could be 'etch' (I've seen this before) and 'etch' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for stretcher that I've seen before include "One making economies" , "Transport for the injured" , "Exaggeration" , "Litter for the wounded" , "one yawning?" .)