Don’t touch small shirt, elegant coat (4)

I believe the answer is:

stet

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'don't touch' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'small shirt elegant coat' is the wordplay.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'shirt' becomes 't' (as in a T-shirt).
'coat' means to remove the middle letters (only the letters which coat the word are used).
'elegant' with its centre taken out is 'et'.
's'+'t'+'et'='STET'

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(Other definitions for stet that I've seen before include "Instruction to keep" , "'Let it stand, in printing (4)'" , "Thus, leave spelling unchanged" , "Don't alter, let spelling stand" , "Retain this type" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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