Growing reasons for settling out of court? (8)
I believe the answer is:
cactuses
'growing reasons' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are plural nouns, I don't see how one could define the other.
'settling out of court?' is the wordplay.
'settling' becomes 'causes' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'out of' is an insertion indicator (some letters on the outside of others).
'court?' becomes 'ct' (abbreviation used in road names).
'causes' enclosing 'ct' is 'CACTUSES'.
'for' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for cactuses that I've seen before include "Spiky desert plants" , "plants with bright flowers" .)