Grassy part of a clearing (3)
I believe the answer is:
lea
'grassy part' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both locations as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'of a clearing' is the wordplay.
'of' indicates a hidden word.
'LEA' is hidden in the letters of 'clearing'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lea that I've seen before include "Poetically, a piece of meadow or pasture" , "Land growing grass" , "Open grassy land; river" , "Open arable land (poet.)" , "River of east London" .)